Rangers have been blessed with the incredible form of their on-loan Brighton forward Abdallah Sima this season.
And when the inevitable of him being called up for Senegal at AFCON this month was confirmed, it came as a bit of a blow for Philippe Clement.
Unfortunately, the manager will now have to deal with an even more bitter blow than simply losing one of his star men to the tournament.
That’s because according to AFCON 2023 journalist Eric Njiru, Sima has left the Senegal camp to return to Glasgow due to injury.
Abdallah Sima injury blow
And it doesn’t seem like it’s going to be a short-term injury to Abdallah Sima. He hadn’t even kicked a ball for his country at the tournament and now he faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines due to a thigh issue.
Reporter Njiru has posted on X what appears to be official correspondence from the Senegal camp at AFCON, which reads as follows: “Furthermore, the FSF informs that player Abdallah Sima left the den today after passing examinations following an injury contracted during training on Wednesday.
“Noting an injury to the adductor longus of the left thigh leading to a long period of unavailability for the player, the medical staff of the selection and his club, Glasgow Rangers, decided for him to return to the club for optimal treatment of his injury. We wish him a quick recovery.”
This is an absolute travesty for the Ibrox club heading into the second half of the season after the winter break.
Njiru’s post on X dropped during the club’s 4-1 Scottish Cup away win over Dumbarton, with Rabbi Matondo deputising for Sima whilst the latter is away at AFCON.
Well, the Welshman will have a longer stretch of game time ahead of him now that Sima has picked up an injury that will see him out for a ‘long period of unavailability.’
Sima may now head back to Brighton to be treated given he is only a loan player at Rangers but that would just be speculation at the moment.
How long he will be out for is also unknown at this stage but from the statement coming out of the Senegal camp, it doesn’t sound good at all for Sima, who has scored 15 goals in 33 games for Rangers thus far this season.
