Porto coach reveals extent of Zaidu Sanusi’s injury

Porto head coach Francesco Farioli has provided an update on the status of Super Eagles defender Zaidu Sanusi following his injury blow in Saturday’s 3-0 win over Academico de Viseu FC, Soccernet.ng reports.

The Nigerian defender suffered the injury in the 18th minute of the encounter after attempting to play the ball before going down and receiving treatment.

Sanusi was eventually unable to continue and was substituted, with Martim Fernandes coming on in his place.

Despite losing one of their key defenders early in the game, Porto went on to maintain their perfect start to the league season and secured a fourth consecutive victory in their title defence.

Andre Silva opened the scoring as early as the fifth minute, while Gabri Veiga and William Gomes added further goals before halftime to seal another comfortable win for the Portuguese champions.

The victory followed previous league wins over Alverca, Rio Ave and Arouca, leaving Porto at the top of the standings with 12 points from four games and two points ahead of Sporting CP in second place.

Farioli delivers worrying update on Zaidu Sanusi

Zaidu Sanusi has faced an uncertain future at Porto this summer, with the defender entering the final year of his current contract. However, the 29-year-old has remained an important part of Farioli’s plans and had played every minute of Porto’s league campaign before his injury against Academico de Viseu.

Speaking after Saturday’s match, Farioli admitted that Sanusi’s injury appeared to be more serious than initially feared, although the full extent will only be known after further tests.

“We have to assess both of them; Zaidu’s looks like something very serious, and Jan seems to have twisted his knee. We’ll see”, Farioli said, via OneFootball.

Sanusi has reportedly suffered an adductor injury and could spend some time on the sidelines, although further medical examinations are expected to determine how long he could be unavailable.

The injury could now keep the Super Eagles defender out of action for a while and potentially put his involvement in Nigeria’s upcoming Africa Cup of Nations 2027 qualifiers in doubt.

The qualifiers are scheduled to begin next month and Eric Chelle could be without one of his experienced defensive options if Sanusi’s recovery takes longer than expected.