Peterborough United have had to cut short the loan of a Premier League prospect after just a single game following a serious injury.
With a win and a defeat under their belts, it’s been a patchy start to the season for Posh, who were once again defeated in the play-offs last season. After consecutive seasons in the top six, there’s hope they can go one better this campaign, but they’ve suffered a blow by losing Mahamadou Susoho after a single game.
He appeared in their opening day fixture, a 2-0 defeat against Huddersfield Town, and was in the squad for their EFL Trophy fixture with Oxford United. He pulled up in the warm-up after striking a shot, and what seemed to be an innocuous injury has been revealed as much more serious.
“He’ll be out for at least four months as we feared,” confirmed manager Darren Ferguson. “It’s probably about as bad an injury as you can get to that area.
“We’ve sent him back to Man City and we will keep in touch with him and the aim will be to get him back in January on loan for the rest of the season. I felt for him, it’s his first loan and he’s a young kid. It’s a real blow to us.”
However, despite losing a key figure, Ferguson revealed that they won’t be adjusting their transfer strategy to suit, with the focus still on outgoings rather than players coming in.
“We’ll discuss what we need but I think we’ll stick to the plan and there won’t be many coming in,” added the former Wrexham midfielder.
“The important thing is for one to two to get out, we need to free up a bit of money. It can’t just all be people coming in. We thought one or two might have gone by now but that could still happen at the end of the window.”
It’s a big blow for Susoho in his first senior loan. The 19-year-old, who has represented Spain at Under 17 and Under 18 level, has a single senior outing for Man City on his CV, coming in the Champions League against Red Star Belgrade.
He appeared in pre-season friendlies against Chelsea, Barcelona, AC Milan, and Celtic but was looking for senior football to help propel his career forward.
Writer’s View
This is a big blow for Peterborough. The youngster got 68 minutes against Huddersfield and settled well in a defensive midfield position, and while he may not have been grabbing early headlines, he looked more than capable of securing a first-team spot with Posh.
It would be a surprise if they didn’t adjust their transfer strategy, despite what Ferguson says. Losing a player at this stage of the season is tough, but there’s time to at least replace or cover. If he was deemed worthy of a start against Huddersfield, then why would they not hunt a replacement?
As for the player, injury is part and parcel of the game, and he’ll now how a steep learning experience, dealing with the issues that come with being out of action, such as missing a chance to impress and the road to rehabilitation.
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