Insider: Richarlison injury may be worse than first feared after new Tottenham twist
Richarlison’s injury may be more severe than Tottenham first feared.
That is the view of medical expert Ben Dinnery, who runs the Premier Injuries site and has a background in injury and data analysis, speaking exclusively to Football Insider.
Richarlison suffered a hamstring injury in the warm-up ahead of Brazil’s World Cup quarter-final defeat to Croatia earlier this month but played through the pain for 84 minutes before being substituted.
Football.London reported last weekend (17 Decemer) that the 25-year-old miss up to five weeks with the issue.
Antonio Conte told club media on Tuesday (20 December) that Richarlison will have an MRI scan to determine the full extent of the problem.
“Practitioners have a really good understanding of the severity of an injury just through their evaluation,” Dinnery told Football Insider correspondent Connor Whitley.
“You don’t always need imaging to confirm that. You don’t need the weatherman to tell you it’s raining, as it were.
“Clinical evaluations are really good but what an MRI scan is really good at is answering those questions you may have in regards to return to play, the precise location of the injury and the full extent of that problem.
“Those internal clinical evaluations would have taken place and you’ll have a good understanding of what’s happening in there. That’s where the four to six week evaluation would come from but this MRI will hopefully give a more definitive answer.
“People see the MRI as the gold standard but other factors can come into play, depending on if it was a really severe injury. You might not be able to pick up specifics because of swelling around the area.
“The chances are this is potentially a second scan. The first one may have come back inconclusive or they may want to get that swelling down to see the precise nature of it.
“That will give them a deeper understanding of the injury itself and from that, you will be able to give a more accurate projection as to when Richarlison can return for Tottenham.”
In other news, a club is close to signing a Tottenham sensation and a 1 January move is expected.