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We've heard a decent amount of chatter about when Arturo Vidal may or may not return to the field following his latest injury. The good thing was that Vidal, injury and all, finally gets to rest after months and months of rehab on his knee.
The other good thing? All of the talk about Vidal missing three weeks at the very minimum may be a little more than people originally though. Juventus manager Max Allegri mentioned at his pre-match press conference on Friday in the lead up to Juve's home opener against Udinese what might be in store for Vidal in the next week or two.
Just like director general Beppe Marotta addressing those stupid Vidal-to-Manchester United transfer rumors every time he stepped in front of a microphone at a press conference, Allegri was bound to be asked about his star midfielder. And, just like Marotta, when asked about Vidal, Allegri answered the question to the best of his ability and knowledge.
So, Max, how long is Arturo Vidal going to be out for with this thigh problem of his?
#Allegri: "Infortunio da poco per #Vidal. Spero di recuperarlo la prossima settimana. Pronto per il #Milan? Vediamo".
— Romeo Agresti (@romeoagresti) September 12, 2014
#Allegri: "No problems with the returning internationals. @kingarturo23’s injury is just a niggle, I hope to have him back next week."
— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) September 12, 2014
Not exactly the reported three-week stop, now is it? Seeing as the key word in all of this is "hope," Vidal could still push that mark — which would mean he'd miss Allegri's comeback to the San Siro and pretty much all of the month of September. He could be back in time for Juve and Milan Round 1 this season. Either way, Vidal is out for not only tomorrow night's game against Udinese, but also Juve's Champions League opener on Tuesday against Malmö.
And you just hope that with all of this, Vidal will have this injury trouble behind him. It's one thing to deal with a knee surgery, it's another to have physical problems stack up one after another. He's got two on the list, so let's keep it there.
