Canadian international Alphonso Davies could be out for two months after injuring ankle ligaments in Bayern Munich’s 5-0 win Saturday over Eintracht Frankfurt.
The 19-year-old fullback rolled his ankle in ugly fashion just 55 seconds after kickoff in the Bundesliga match at Munich’s Allianz Arena. There was no one near him as he turned to go backwards, his ankle giving way on the edge of the centre circle as Frankfurt mounted an attack.
Davies immediately went down, clutching his ankle and signalling to the bench that he needed help. He was clearly in pain as trainers worked on him and needed assistance getting off the field.
“He sustained a ligament injury,” Bayern coach Hansi Flick told the post-match news conference. “One ligament is fully torn, another is partially torn. We reckon he’ll be sidelined for six to eight weeks.
“It hurts when a player of this quality is ruled out.”
French international Lucas Hernandez, who cost Bayern 80 million euros ($124.6 million) in March 2019, came on for him in the third minute.
“Thank you everyone for the kind messages. I will be back stronger, just a bump in the road,” Davies tweeted later.
It had already been a rough start to the new season for Davies, who had seen limited playing time with Flick saying his form had dipped from last season when he was named Bundesliga rookie of the year.
Davies. who has won 17 caps for Canada with five goals, has become the face of Canadian soccer abroad.
He joined Bayern from the Vancouver Whitecaps in a then-MLS record US$22-million transfer. The deal was done in July 2018 but Davies finished out the MLS season before joining Bayern in January 2019.
Since then, playing left fullback, he has turned heads with his speed and ability to create attacks. Bayern veteran Thomas Mueller dubbed him the Bayern Road Runner after the pacey cartoon character.
In April, he signed a contract extension with Bayern that will keep him with the German champions through June 2025.
Born in a Ghana refugee camp to patents fleeing the Liberian civil war, he moved to Canada with his family when he was five, eventually settling in Edmonton.
Davies is also one-half of a young soccer power couple. He dates19-year-old Canadian international forward Jordyn Huitema, who plays her club football for Paris Saint-Germain.
A social media favourite, he has 2.9 million Instagram followers.
© 2020 The Canadian Press
