Azubuike out for nine months

Turkish club Rizespor have announced that Nigerian midfielder Okechukwu Azubuike could be sidelined for as long as nine months after he underwent surgery for a major knee injury.

Azubuike ruptured his ACL in a pre-season friendly, the club said in a statement on Thursday.

The surgeon Mehmet Emin Erdil, who carried out the operation at the Acibadem Maslak Hospital in Istanbul, Turkey said the Nigerian midfielder underwent a successful surgery and will return to the field as soon as possible.

“The estimated return time of Azubuike to the field is six to nine months,” Erdil said.

“We convey our best wishes to our football player and hope that he will return to the field stronger than before.”

Azubuike joined Rizespor in January after ending his three-year spell with Istanbul Basaksehir.

The 26-year-old has played for several Turkish clubs, including Sivasspor and Yeni Malatyaspor, but the highlight of his stay in the transcontinental country was winning the Super Lig with Basaksehir in 2020.