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One of the discoveries of the Italian championship, club striker Amauri, may miss the rest of the season due to a knee injury - the player underwent a knee operation in Rome on Monday.
The Brazilian injured his knee during the last match of 2006 against "Siena" when he collided with the opponent's goalkeeper Alex Manninger. Both the club and the player considered for some time whether to undergo surgery, and after making the decision, he was successfully operated on in Rome by Professor Pierpaolo Mariani, who operated on the "Roma" club star Francesco Totti last year.
The operation was successful, so the player will move to Sicily on Wednesday and will have to go to Rome for examinations after a week. Due to this injury, "Palermo" forward will most likely not be able to play for several months and will not appear on the field this season.
Amauri moved to "Palermo" from Verona's "Chievo" for 7 million euros in the summer. The striker, who scored eight goals in Serie A, became one of the league's discoveries and helped "Palermo" rise to third place in the league and seriously compete for a spot in the Champions League next year.
The impressive game of the Brazilian even sparked talks of an invitation to the Brazilian or Italian national team, as the footballer, who spent five years in the latter country, applied for citizenship, but his hopes were temporarily cut short by the injury.
It was thought that if one of the team's attacking leaders suffered an injury, the club would look for a replacement, but president Maurizio Zamparini insists that they will not buy strikers and will simply provide more opportunities for the talented Italian Andrea Caracciolo, who had lost his place in the team's main lineup.
