“It is likely that Diakhaby will no longer be able to play football”
Traumatologist Enrique Gastaldi analyzed Mouctar Diakhaby’s very serious injury on the program ‘SER Deportivos’. He stated that it is the “most serious knee injury a football player can have” and questioned whether the defender will be able to dedicate himself professionally to football again.
The match between Valencia and Real Madrid left us with one of the most terrible images of recent years in Spanish football. Aurélien Tchouaméni’s unfortunate fall on Mouctar Diakhaby’s leg practically caused the Valencia defender’s knee to completely rupture, which now faces a long and complicated recovery process. Not just to return to the field, but to resume a normal life.
According to the club’s medical services report, the French-Guinean suffered a “dislocation of his right knee”. Some media outlets speak of at least a year away. However, Enrique Gastaldi, responsible for the Dr. Gastaldi Orquín Institute of Traumatology and consultant for the medical services of Valencia or Villarreal, spoke to the microphones of ´SER Deportivos Valencia´ and stated that Diakhaby should not set deadlines for his recovery.
“The dislocation took with it the anterior cruciate ligament and the posterior cruciate ligament” , explained the traumatologist, who was surprised by its severity: “It’s an extremely rare injury. It’s the most serious injury a football player can have to the knee. Probably , he tore four or five ligaments, it’s a devastating injury.”
“When the knee dislocates, it is because the bone moves out of place. And this involves tearing the ligaments, which are the anterior, posterior, lateral, external cruciate ligaments… For the bone to come out, the ligaments have to break”, continued his description.
Furthermore, he warned about the consequences that could have occurred: “It is always necessary to consider in a knee dislocation that there is no vascular injury. The popliteal artery passes behind the knee and passes next to the bone. And when the bone comes out, it can tear the artery, the vein… or the nerve. These are extremely serious injuries to begin with.”
For Dr. Gastaldi, expectations should be very conservative and proceed step by step: “With this type of injury, the first thing to look for is that the patient is able to walk and that there are no more problems. And we are not talking about nine or 12 months off. In this type of injury, no deadlines should be set and it may take one or two operations.”
Although his statements sound very discouraging, he believes that, at the very least, Diakhaby will regain normality in his daily life: “When someone has an injury to the femoral artery, they run the risk of losing their leg, but they will have no problems walking.” . However, the traumatologist states that “there is a high probability that Diakhaby will no longer be able to play football.”
