Ankle injury sums up tough year for Sunderland’s Giaccherini

Both Giaccherini and Sunderland boss Gus Poyet had high hopes for the Italian international’s second season at the Stadium of Light after he impressed during pre-season, despite missing out on a place in his country’s World Cup squad last summer.

But Giaccherini’s campaign has been hijacked by injuries – a groin strain keeping him out of the opening few games, a broken bone in his ankle ruling him out for two months during the Autumn, before that problem was aggravated by a heavy tackle in last month’s FA Cup win at Fulham.

Giaccherini has undergone surgery on the latter injury, but he is not expected to play any part in Sunderland’s bid to secure their Premier League status.

“I suffered a severe injury and I had to get operated,” the 29-year-old told reporters in his homeland.

“My season is practically over. This has been a rough year for me.

“I played in three Premier League games in September and then I broke my leg.

“Then in the first few days of February, I got hurt once more. My season is done.”

Despite Giaccherini’s injury troubles, Poyet insisted last month that the former Juventus man does still have a future at the Stadium of Light.

Giaccherini has been persistently linked with a return to Serie A since joining Sunderland in a £6.5million deal in the summer of 2013.

“The idea for him is to come back next pre-season the same way he did this year,” Poyet said last month.