Toure out for months with thigh injury: Atalanta coach
El Bilal Toure will be sidelined for months with a thigh injury, Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini confirmed on Saturday ahead of the Serie A club's first game of the new season.
The Mali forward became Atalanta's record signing at the end of July when he was bought for a reported fee of 30 million euros plus add-ons from Almeria.
But the 21-year-old has torn a tendon in his right thigh during last weekend's friendly with Juventus and will miss Sunday's season opener at Sassuolo.
"I'm very upset for the lad, he's someone with a lot of hunger to play for Atalanta," Gasperini said when asked about the long lay-off.
"We knew he was coming back from a long time out injured (last season) but no-one imagined that he might have this kind of relapse.... we need to see over the coming days for exactly how long he will be out."
Toure had been brought in to replace Rasmus Hojlund after the Dane was sold to Manchester United for a reported 74 million euros.
Atalanta also announced on Saturday that defender Merih Demiral has been sold to Al-Ahli, the Turkish international the latest in a long line of players to move to Saudi Arabia this summer.
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