AC Milan have confirmed that Fode Ballo-Toure has been ruled out for four weeks after undergoing shoulder surgery.
The 25-year-old has made seven appearances so far this season, largely off the bench and as a back-up option when Theo Hernandez has been unavailable or in need of a rest.
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However, he will not be involved in our upcoming games as we prepare for the resumption of the Serie A season following the World Cup break, after having suffered an injury setback.
As confirmed in a club statement from Milan, Ballo-Toure underwent surgery after suffering a dislocation of the right shoulder and while the procedure was successful and went to plan, he will now need four weeks before he is able to return to training.
On the face of it, given his limited role for us, it’s not such a heavy blow to lose the left-back for any lengthy period of time.
That said, with Theo Hernandez only resuming group training on Sunday after an extended break following the World Cup, Stefano Pioli would certainly have preferred to have depth in that position heading into our encounter with Salernitana on Wednesday.
With Ballo-Toure ruled out, Serginho Dest could be an option to switch to the opposite flank when needed with Davide Calabria now back from an injury blow of his own to slot in at right-back, but the expectation for now is that Hernandez will indeed start against Salernitana in what is a major boost in itself for the Rossoneri.
Pioli has been hit with several additional injury setbacks in a far from ideal way to restart the season, but he’ll be confident that we still have enough quality and depth to compete and start to close the gap to Serie A leaders Napoli.
