Super Eagles midfielder Wilfried Ndidi could be out for up to three months on the sidelines after picking up a muscle injury while on club duty, Leicester City manager Enzo Maresca disclosed on Friday.
The 27-year-old, who was initially named to the Super Eagles 25-man squad for this month’s Africa Cup of Nations but was replaced by Belgium-based Alhassan Yusuf, missed Leicester’s 4-1 win over Huddersfield Town in the English Championship on New Year’s Day.
While speaking ahead of their FA Cup third-round visit to Millwall on Saturday, Maresca provided an update on the combative midfield general.
“For Wilf, it will be a long time,” the Italian manager said.
“It could be three months. It looks like a muscle problem, but an important one so we now see in the next hours.”
Ndidi’s injury could see him miss up to 15 of the remaining 20 league matches for the Foxes this season.
The Nigerian has been an integral of Maresca’s team this season as Leicester, the Championship league leaders, look to continue their bright form and stage an immediate return to the Premier League.
Ndidi has played 24 matches in all competitions for the Foxes this season, scoring four goals and providing six assists.
Maresca also provided an update on Kelechi Iheanacho, Ndidi’s Super Eagles teammate, who is also recovering from an injury and is part of the Nigerian team jetting out to Ivory Coast for the AFCON.
The Italian added that he is unsure of how long Iheanacho is expected to be out for, but he added that the Nigerian forward is definitely out of their match against Millwall.
“I don’t know,” the Italian added. “The only thing I can say is that Kel is still injured. It’s getting better but it’s still not 100 per cent otherwise he would be in the squad for tomorrow and he’s not in the squad.”
