Emmanuel Emegha faces fresh lay-off as Strasbourg captain out for at least six weeks | OneFootball

According to L'Équipe, Strasbourg captain Emmanuel Emegha has suffered another setback and will miss at least six weeks, capping a torrid campaign.

He has featured in only a quarter of Strasbourg's minutes this season. Courted last summer, he stayed to lead a push into Europe.

On 28 August he scored twice at Bröndby in a 3-2 win to clinch a Conference League group place. On 12 September, chasing a World Cup berth, he announced a transfer pre-agreement between Chelsea and Strasbourg.

The move hurt his image and inflamed tensions with fans. Ultras branded him a BlueCo pawn and demanded the armband, and president Marc Keller said he was devastated.

He also made clumsy remarks, including saying he thought Strasbourg was in Germany. Concerns over professionalism led to a one-match internal ban for the 0-1 defeat at Toulouse on 6 December. He then suffered a muscle injury before the trip and has not returned.

After the 1-2 loss to PSG on Sunday, Gary O'Neil said the striker had felt fine before Lille but was short, then felt something in the week. He hoped it would not be long and said tests were needed.

The latest issue arose during indoor work. O'Neil added that if the lay-off is lengthy they would try to add a striker to support Joaquin Panichelli. Strasbourg have taken Datro Fofana on a straight loan from Chelsea, implicitly confirming a longer absence and dimming his World Cup dream.

Source: L'Équipe