‘Serious’ replace issued after Premier League star suffered season-ending damage

An update has been issued by Nottingham Forest after one of their star players went down just 10 minutes into the club’s Premier League season opener.

Danilo, 23, had been challenging for the ball in the centre of the pitch with Antoine Semenyo when an awkward landing caused an injury to his ankle. The City Ground immediately fell silent as the midfielder received treatment from the medical team, who had placed barriers around him.

“Yatesy replaces Danilo who is stretchered off. We’re all with you, Danilo,” Forest said on social media after the Brazilian was stretched off the pitch. “Our thoughts are with Nottingham Forest’s Danilo who appears to have suffered a season ending injury during their first game,” TNT Sports said.

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And in a post-match update, boss Nuno Espirto Santos claimed that it was “serious,” and admitted that it was a “tough moment” for everybody involved.

Speaking to the club’s in-house YouTube channel, he said: “We know that he’s in the hospital . . . and it’s serious. It was a tough moment for everybody here – the fans and us.

“Danilo is a special person, always with a smile on his face, and we’re going to miss his quality, his talent, what he gives to the team. We hope for the best and hope he’s (not out) for too much time.”

And speaking about the players reactions just minutes after the shocking injury, he said: “We all love ‘nilo’ and first of all in their minds – for sure in my mind – we don’t think about football.

“You just think . . . and hope that it is nothing serious, then you see how bad it is.”

He later told the BBC that Danilo had suffered a “broken ankle”, but is “speaking and aware” and “stable”.

There was seven minutes of stoppage before the game could continue – as all four corners of the ground clapped off the Brazilian. Chris Wood would break the deadlock, once play could resume, with Adam Yates, who replaced Danilo, driving the team forward. Yates’ shot could only parried out into the penalty area, where Wood was waiting to roll the ball home and send Forest ahead.

Bournemouth thought they had managed to fire level, when Forest failed to clear their lines and Dango Ouattara smashed the ball into the roof of the net. However, the goal was ruled out by VAR, after Lewis Cook was ruled offside in the build-up.

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