Fernando Nino has issued a public apology after breaking the leg of Wesley Fofana in a pre-season friendly.
The Leicester defender confirmed he'd suffered a fractured fibula following a horror challenge from the Villareal forward at the King Power on Wednesday night.
Speaking ahead of the weekend's Community Shield with Manchester City, Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers said they would likely have to purchase cover for Fofana in the coming days.
"He fractured his fibula. So it’s a horrendous injury for us and we are devastated for him," Rodgers said, "He’s a top class player so he’s going to be a huge loss for us.
"Our medical team were fantastic. They looked after him.
"Our trauma doctor was able to put his ankle back in place. Then he went to the hospital. He has another scan today, which he couldn’t have last night because the ankle was so swollen.
"That will give us a clearer indication of how long he will be out for.”
Fofana was voted Leicester's young player of the season for 2020-21, and is set to miss a large chunk of the FA Cup-winners' season.
Rodgers revealed on Thursday that Nino had apologised to his player for the incident, something ratified by the Villareal man in an Instagram post.
"He apologised straight away and then afterwards there was an apology," Rodgers said, "It’s disappointing for that to happen in a pre-season friendly. It was a really good game, but that took the shine off it.”
The 20-year old Spaniard told his followers, "I am writing to publicly apologise, having already done so privately with him, to Wesley Fofana for what happened last night at the King Power Stadium in Leicester.
"At no time was it my intention to harm him, as unfortunately happened. I sincerely hope that he has a speedy recovery and can return to the pitch as soon as possible to continue showing that he is a footballer of the highest level."
The apology will be cold comfort for Rodgers, who admits he's left light at the back because of Fofana's injury.
The Ulsterman admits they may have to spend to provide cover, "Filip Benkovic has done really well over the course of pre-season.
"Daniel Amartey has also done well. It’s certainly something we’ll look at. There will be a small group of players identified. We’ll see what happens.”
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