Former Newcastle United star suffers horror injury less than a month after joining new club

Former Newcastle United star Gini Wijnaldum is facing a race against time as he looks to return to full fitness ahead of the World Cup.

The Netherlands international joined Serie A club Roma on a season-long loan deal last month after enduring an underwhelming season with Paris Saint-Germain.

However, after making just one substitute appearance for his new club, Wijnaldum is facing a spell on the sidelines after suffering a serious injury in training.

The former Magpies midfielder has fractured his tibia and will now begin the painstaking recovery and rehabilitation process as he looks to find fitness in time to be in contention for the World Cup in Qatar in November.

A Roma statement read: “Following an injury sustained during training this afternoon, Georginio Wijnaldum subsequently underwent medical tests that confirmed the presence of a fracture to the tibia in his right leg.

“The player will undergo further assessments in the coming days. FORZA GINI!”

Roma manager Jose Mourinho could not hide his disappointment after losing one of his summer signings for the first half of the Serie A season.

The former Manchester United and Chelsea boss praised the impact Wijnaldum has made during his short time at the club and described the injury as ‘a very unfortunate accident’.

“Sometimes football can be .…,” he said via an Instagram post.

“In only 2 weeks, Gini became one of us because of his human qualities (his football qualities we already knew).

“Sadly, in a very unfortunate accident he had a bad injury that will keep him away from playing for a long time.”

Holland kick off their World Cup campaign with a game against Senegal on 21st November.