Teenage midfielder Warren Zaïre-Emery will miss “several weeks” with Paris Saint-Germain due to an ankle injury suffered in France’s record-breaking rout of Gibraltar on Saturday, according to national team coach Didier Deschamps.
Zaire-Emery, 17, suffered the injury while scoring on his international debut, when he became France’s youngest goalscorer in more than a century. A defender stepped on his right ankle while he was shooting into the top corner.
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Deschamps said tests did not show any fractures, but Zaire-Emery will need time to recover.
“It’s still a major injury that will likely take several weeks.” [to heal]”Deschamps told French television show Téléfoot on Sunday. “You never want to lose players in games like this. “It could have been more serious.”
The injury means Zaire-Emery will be out of PSG’s final two Champions League group stage matches, as well as Ligue 1 matches against Monaco, Le Havre and Nantes.
PSG have lost two of their four games in Group F and sit in second place, one point behind leaders Borussia Dortmund and one ahead of AC Milan in third place.
PSG will host Newcastle at the Parc des Princes on November 28 and then travel to play Dortmund on December 13.
Zaire-Emery is the latest prodigy to break into the national team and, at 17 years and 255 days, became France’s youngest player since 1914.
He has played every minute of PSG’s Champions League campaign and impressed when PSG beat Milan 3-0 late last month, providing two assists.
