Zakaria Aboukhlal will most likely not play again this season, his club Toulouse has announced. The Moroccan international injured his knee last week and initially seemed to be sidelined for ‘only’ a few months. However, Toulouse now announces that his season is almost certainly over. Everything points to a torn cruciate ligament, although the club does not make any official announcements about this.
Aboukhlal suffered a knee injury last Thursday during the Europa League match against Union Sint-Gillis (1-1) and had to be replaced by Frank Magri. After the match in Belgium, Aboukhlal underwent a first test to determine the approximate severity of his injury. Toulouse knew then that things were not looking good. “Our striker Zakaria Aboukhlal will be sidelined for the coming months. New tests will have to reveal more about the exact severity of the injury and exactly how long he will be sidelined.”
Before the 2-1 loss to RC Lens on Sunday, coach Carles Martínez Novell expressed the hope of a relatively quick return of the attacker. “Bag is very important to us, so hopefully he returns soon. In the meantime, we will have to adapt to his absence.” On Thursday evening, five days after the initial message from the French cup holder, it became clear that Aboukhlal will most likely not play again this season. “The operation of Zakaria Aboukhlal, which last week was injured in the Europa League, went well,” the club writes. “Our striker will probably not be available until the end of the season. TéFéCé wishes him a good recovery and looks forward to seeing him back on the field.”
Aboukhlal’s injury is a major setback lesson Violets. The 23-year-old Rotterdammer scored fifteen goals and five assists last season. He was also important several times this year with three Ligue 1 goals in five matches. Aboukhlal joined Toulouse in the summer of 2022, which took him over from AZ for two million euros. His excellent form last season earned him a place in Morocco’s World Cup squad. At that tournament he came on four times and was of great value with a goal in the group stage against Belgium (2-0). Finally reached out the Lions of the Atlas until the semi-finals.
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