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Miguel Almirón’s season looks to be finished after coming off due to a hamstring injury during Saturday’s match against Southampton.
In the 64th minute Almirón limped off after an apparent non-contact hamstring injury. As Almirón left the field in tears he was given a standing ovation by the Geordie Faithful who have rightfully so recognized his impact in the team despite not registering a goal or assist.
Almirón’s impact on the match will surely be missed as it looks like he will miss the remainder of the season. Per The Chronicle, Almirón has headed to Spain in order to have his hamstring examined. Almirón’s goal is likely to be fit by early June, as Almirón intends to play in Paraguay’s opening Copa America match on June 16th against Qatar.
Hamstring injuries are no stranger to Almirón, as this is his 3rd hamstring injury in 2 years. At the end of both of his seasons with Atlanta, Almirón picked up left hamstring injuries that sidelined him for 20+ days. Both times Almirón was able to return for the MLS playoffs, and played well. It seems as if Almirón could be working so hard during the season that his hamstrings just give out at the end. If this is the case, the wisest thing for the young Paraguayan to do is to actually give himself some rest, even if that means missing the beginning of the Copa America tournament. Almirón came into this season with Newcastle after only a month break following an extended MLS season, and has started in every match since his debut in the 0-1 loss to Wolves.
Newcastle will likely finish the season starting Christian Atsu as a left winger. Atsu has not been overly impressive this season, but has shown flashes of brilliance throughout the year and has been effective coming on as a sub for Almirón. Atsu has big shoes to fill as part of Almirón’s impact was how much attention he attracted from defenders, which would result in opportunities for Ayoze Perez and Salomon Rondon. Atsu does not command the same amount of respect Almirón does, which put a lot more pressure on himself, Ayoze Perez and Salomon Rondon to generate offense. The absence of Almirón for the rest of the season will likely result in a tactical change for Newcastle, and we could see players like Jonjo Shelvey or even Kenedy get chances in the team.
The only positive takeaway from this injury is that we could possibly see Real Madrid’s Joselu return to the bench and provide some of his patented “lightning rod offense”.
How do you think Newcastle should approach Almirón possibly missing the rest of the season? Should we be worried that Almirón is injury prone? Let us know in the comments!