Cardiff City will be without their star center back Sol Bamba for the rest of the Premier League season.
The news is a hammer blow to Cardiff’s manager Neil Warnock, as Bamba has been a mainstay in defense and a huge reason why they’re within two points of Premier League safety with nine games to go.
In a statement released on Tuesday, Cardiff confirmed that Bamba has ruptured the ACL in his left knee in the 2-0 defeat at Wolves at the weekend and will miss the rest of the season.
“Unfortunately our biggest fears have been confirmed regarding the injury Sol suffered at Wolves on Saturday,” Warnock said. “Scans have shown that Sol has ruptured his ACL; he will have an operation on Wednesday and therefore miss the rest of the season. It is a major blow to the squad but I know all of our supporters will join me in wishing him the very best during his recovery.”
Cardiff’s chance of staying up have just taken a massive hit.
Bamba is their defensive leader and it will now be down to Sean Morrison and Bruno Manga to stand tall and make sure the Bluebirds do not waver in his absence.
Warnock has previously stated that Bamba is as good as Virgil van Dijk. Although that is a little off the mark, it shows how highly-regarded Bamba is by everyone at Cardiff.
With games against Liverpool, Man City, Man United and Chelsea still to come, Cardiff knew they were already up against it to try and stay in the Premier League.