New York Red Bulls star midfielder Emil Forsberg was placed on the injured list before Saturday’s match against the Philadelphia Union with a lower leg injury and is expected to miss a minimum of four weeks, the team announced.
The 32-year-old Swede has been battling the issue since a June 8 appearance for his national side in a friendly. Including international duty, he had missed each of the Red Bulls’ previous four matches but came back for the five minutes plus stoppage time at the end of their June 29 draw with DC United.
While it appeared to be a step in the right direction, it was discovered in the last week that Forsberg needs more time than initially believed to recover fully.
“The situation is clear now,” New York head coach Sandro Schwarz said. “He’s a key player for us but this is what we have to handle now. This is my job, along with my coaching staff, to find the best solution of how we can handle it. Hopefully, he can come back as soon as possible.”
Forsberg, who made the jump from Red Bull Leipzig of the German Bundesliga to join New York in December, has been one of the club’s most important players during a season in which it sits fourth in the Eastern Conference. In 15 appearances, he has six goals and four assists. Only Lewis Morgan (nine goals, two assists) has more goal contributions than him.
In his absence, Schwarz has been forced to shuffle up the midfield, which featured Wiki Carmona in Forsberg’s usual spot on the left side of the midfield during Saturday night’s 0-0 draw to Philadelphia.
MLS rules state that a player on the injured list must sit a minimum of six matches, which includes Leagues Cup play. The four-week timetable put forth by the Red Bulls would suggest Forsberg could return by Aug. 3. Including Saturday night’s match against Philadelphia, the Red Bulls have exactly six matches scheduled between now and that date, meaning he could return to action should New York advance from its Leageus Cup group “East 6,” which also features Toronto FC and Liga MX side Club Pachuca.
