Sporting to welcome injured player back only after international break | OneFootball

The management of Sporting’s attack is becoming more complicated for Rui Borges due to Fotis Ioannidis’ physical condition. The 26-year-old Greek striker continues to complain about his left knee and, although tests have not revealed any structural injury, the coaching staff prefers not to take any risks.

Thus, everything indicates that Ioannidis will once again be left out of the squad for the matches against Bodø/Glimt in the Champions League, as well as for the trip to Alverca in the league. The priority for the Sporting structure is to ensure that the Greek international fully recovers during the upcoming international break.

The hope at Alvalade is that the FIFA break will allow the striker to return at 100% for the decisive phase of the season. This would finally give Rui Borges some leeway to better manage the use of Luis Suárez, who has been practically the only available attacking reference in recent weeks.

Without Ioannidis, the alternative has been the young Rafael Nel, a 20-year-old striker from the B team who has been called up to the first team more frequently. Even so, the youngster’s lack of experience means he is mainly seen as a backup solution, not yet being ready to take on a regular starting role.

This season, wearing the Sporting shirt, Fotis Ioannidis – valued at 20 million euros – has played 22 matches. The 26-year-old Greek international striker has played 944 minutes, during which he has already scored six goals and provided three assists for the green and white.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.