Chelsea loanee Lucas Piazon is set to face a lengthy period on the sidelines after he went under the knife to fix his broken jaw. The 23-year-old will now be out for a period of two months.
Piazon’s injury is a mighty blow to Fulham’s promotion hopes as the Cottagers are eying a return to the English top flight. Fulham have been playing in the Championship for the past two seasons and this is their third term in the English second tier since getting relegated from the Premier League in the 2013-14 season.
The incident happened when the Brazilian collided with Cardiff City player Kadeem Harris. He has been very impressive for the Whites this season and has also netted six goals for them. He was initially signed for a four-month tenure but after watching his form, the club decided to extend his loan stint until the end of this season.
Fulham released a statement regarding his injury, “Following an injury sustained in the first half of our 2-2 draw with Cardiff City, the club can confirm that Lucas Piazon underwent surgery on his jaw on Saturday evening.
“A rehabilitation period of approximately two months is expected. Further information will be [released] in due course.”
Piazon had earlier plied his trade with Reading and this is his second term in the Championship. The winger had made only one appearance for Chelsea and that too came way back in 2012. Fulham are currently seventh in the Championship, five points adrift of Sheffield Wednesday who are sitting in the final playoff places.
Piazon was cautioned by the referee after he fouled Harris in the 2-2 draw against Cardiff City. Piazon is very determined to be back before the season ends and posted a picture of himself on Instagram after the operation. Fulham failed to maintain their winning run but managed to rescue a point against Cardiff City through Neeskens Kebano who scored at the stroke of 68th minutes to give the Cottagers a solitary point from the game.
Given that a promotion to the Premier League via playoffs is still very much on the cards, this was a devastating blow to Fulham. The question now remains, can the Whites cope without Lucas Piazon for the next 2 months? If the answer to that question is yes, maybe Piazon can be that ‘new signing’ who helps Fulham over the line in the playoffs.
