The heavy injury blow suffered by West Ham winger Andriy Yarmolenko could have been even more serious in a bit of good news as he undergoes surgery on Monday, according to KomandaN1.
The Ukrainian news outlet claim that the Hammers star, who was stretchered off with the issue against Tottenham on Saturday, has suffered trauma in the upper part of the Achilles rather than the lower, and that is not the worst damage that can be suffered in the area.
However, the report made the significant revelation that Yarmolenko had in fact suffered a blow to the Achilles while on international duty and that he had undergone tests to ensure there was no damage suffered before it did break down against Spurs.
Opinion
While it might not be the worst case scenario for Yarmolenko, you cannot imagine that the Hammers will be celebrating too much. The Ukrainian international is set to miss most, if not all, the rest of the season now and that is a hammer blow after they signed him in the summer. With the likes of Manuel Lanzini already on the sidelines with a long term setback, the Irons must be feeling cursed when it comes to injuries. There will no doubt be questions asked over whether the ankle blow suffered while on international duty was tested enough before letting him return to action for the club, but really that could well be clutching at straws. Injuries are part and parcel of the game and incidents like this are more bad luck than anything else, with no one to blame for it happening. Still, the silver lining is it is not as bad as it could have been, and that will hopefully mean that he can make a full recovery quicker than if it were the worst case scenario.