Napoli’s midfielder, Jens Cajuste, has been sidelined for several weeks due to a muscular injury in his right thigh, potentially posing complications for Francesco Calzona’s plans ahead of the upcoming Champions League Round of 16 second leg encounter against Barcelona in March.
The official statement released by Napoli confirms that Cajuste has undergone medical evaluations and was absent from the group training session on Thursday morning.
According to reports from Gianluca Di Marzio, it is anticipated that Cajuste will be out of action for a minimum of two weeks.
Consequently, he will be unavailable for Serie A fixtures against Juventus and Torino, and is also likely to miss the Champions League fixture against Barcelona on March 12.
Cajuste’s absence is particularly concerning ahead of the Barcelona match, given that coach Calzona is already deprived of the services of senior midfielders Piotr Zielinski and Leander Dendoncker, who were both omitted from Napoli’s Champions League squad list by Walter Mazzarri at the beginning of February.
Presently, Napoli’s pool of available senior midfielders for the Champions League includes Stanislav Lobotka, Andre-Franck Zambo Anguissa, Hamed Traore, and Jesper Lindstrom.
Although officially designated as a midfielder, Lindstrom has predominantly operated on the right wing since his arrival from Eintracht Frankfurt in the summer.
Napoli is scheduled to visit Catalonia for the encounter against Barcelona on March 12, with the kickoff slated for 20:00 GMT.