Inaki Williams to miss world cup qualifiers due to injuries

Athletic Bilbao manager Ernesto Valverde has disclosed that Inaki Williams is currently unavailable after undergoing surgery to remove a two-centimetre glass in his foot.

Inaki Williams to miss Ghana’s World Cup qualifiers after glass was spotted in his foot

The 29-year-old striker is, therefore, now a major doubt ahead of Ghana’s 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Mali and the Central African Republic (CAR).

Williams has had an amazing injury record since making his Athletic Bilbao debut and even set a record after playing in 251 matches in a row.

However, he has missed some games for both club and country in recent times and has also been ruled out of Athletic Bilbao’s final game of the season against Royo Vallecano on Saturday.

Addressing journalists at a pre-match press conference, Valverde revealed that Williams has been playing with a glass in his foot.

According to him, the forward had an accident two years ago and a glass pierced his foot after he mistakenly stepped on it.

Valverde explained that although Williams recovered from the injury, it was discovered recently that part of the glass remained stuck in his foot.

The Athletic Bilbao boss, however, added that the Ghana forward has gone under the knife to remove the glass, which has made him unavailable.

“We did a scan after the final, and we discovered that he still had some glass in his foot. When they stitched him up the first time, they left the glass in there,” Valverde said, as quoted by Football Espana.

“In addition, it’s not a small piece, it’s about 2cm. It was next to a bone or a tendon, but we had to extract it. The truth is that myself and the doctor were laughing because we couldn’t believe it.”

Meanwhile, Williams now faces a race against time to be fit for Ghana’s upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Mali and CAR.

The Black Stars will travel to Bamako to face the Eagles on June 6 before facing CAR four days later at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium in Kumasi.

Source: PulseGh