Rafael Benitez suffers brutal blow as key Celta Vigo defender is ruled out for 6-7 months

Rafael Benitez has not enjoyed the best of starts to life at Balaidos, with his Celta Vigo side floundering in the relegation zone a quarter of the way into the season. Things are yet to look up, with key defender Joseph Aidoo rupturing his Achilles’ tendon this week.

He has since undergone surgery for the injury, and is expected to be out for 6-7 months in total, which would mean returning only for the final games of the season. It leaves Benitez with just three natural central defenders, something which takes on even more significance considering Benitez has often used five defenders this season.

Unai Nunez, Carlos Dominguez and Carl Starfelt must now shoulder the load, although Oscar Mingueza did come through as a central defender too. Speaking to Diario AS ahead of Celta’s clash with Atletico Madrid, Benitez spoke about the prospect of bringing in a free agent.

“Aidoo’s injury hurts us, of course. We know that Joseph is a fast player and that he helps a lot in crossing and solving problems at the back. In some games, of course, he would be important.”

“For now we are going to manage it with the centre backs we have, and trying to keep an eye out in case there is something that comes up, but I don’t believe much in players who are out of the market either. We are going to try to make our three centre backs last as long as they can, and in January we will evaluate it.”

The word in Galicia is that Celta will try to avoid signing another central defender in January, but with Os Celeste stuck on a single win, the situation at the time could well influence that decision. Aidoo had been considered Celta’s strongest defender last season, although Benitez has used him sparingly this season.