Lazio's injury crisis is set to worsen as Keita Balde is set to miss up to 40 days of action after damaging his medial collateral ligaments in Sunday's defeat to Sassuolo, the club have confirmed.
Coach Stefano Pioli has also been shorn of his captain, Lucas Biglia, defender Stefan de Vrij and midfielder Marco Parolo in recent weeks.
The Biancocelesti sit sixth in the Serie A standings and face a tricky Europa League encounter with Rosenburg this forthcoming Thursday.
Missing pivotal clashes
The source also reports that the Spaniard would be scheduled to return for the visit of Palermo on November 22.
That would rule the forward out of the visit of Milan at the start of November and, critically, the Derby della Capitale seven days later.
Keita has impressed since he netted Lazio's solitary goal in Lazio's 1-0 victory over Bayer Leverkusen in the Uefa Champions League qualifiers and, with Felipe Anderson and Antonio Candreva blighted by inconsistency this term, his influence would be sorely missed.
Lazio confirm injury
“This afternoon at the Padeia clinic, Keita Balde Diao underwent tests on his right knee,” a statement from Lazio revealed.
“It confirmed the presence of a sprain to the medial collateral ligament. The athlete will start treatment tomorrow, and the recovery time will be established early next week, after further tests.”
De Vrij update
Lazio's team doctor, Stefano Salvatori, has shed light on Stefan de Vrij's return from injury.
The Dutchman had been scheduled to undergo surgery to repair the damaged knee, though Salvatori has revealed that there are no plans in place as of yet, with the defender continuing in his "conservative" recovery.
“If he has to have surgery, we’re not talking about weeks out, but months. In the past we’ve proposed surgery to De Vrij, but athlete wanted to keep playing," he told Lazio Style Radio.