How long can we expect Enzo Copetti to be out

By Andrew Crowell

Photo Courtesy of Cisco Art

Charlotte’s Argentine DP picked up the injury in training earlier this week and will have an MRI today to assess the severity of the injury. Manager Dean Smith began his press conference this week with this news while also admitting that Copetti has not been ruled out for Saturday’s clash with Nashville at Geodis Park. 

While we must wait for any news on MRI results to exactly determine the severity of Copetti’s injury, hamstring injuries are never good news for a player. While the initial description of the injury was ‘hamstring tightness’, we can guess that this means an injury to this area. Injuries to the hamstring effect the semitendinosus, semimembranosus, and biceps femoris muscles on the back of the thigh with injuries to biceps femoris being the most common. Injuries to these muscles are incredibly common in soccer as they are heavily involved in both sprinting, change of direction, and shooting/kicking motions. A study conducted and published in May of 2023 determined that most hamstring injuries in professional soccer players occur during high-speed movements.

The downtime for Copetti will depend on the results of his MRI and analysis by training staff with 1 of 3 grades likely for the Argentine. A grade 1 hamstring injury would involve just slight damage to the hamstring muscles and could see the Argentine return to training after just a few days to about a week. Grade 2 represents small tears in the muscles, meaning the recovery would be a little longer in the 3-to-8-week range. The worst-case scenario for the striker would be a grade 3 injury, representing significant damage and tears in the muscles of the hamstring. This recovery time would be closer to 3 months or more.

As with most injuries, recovery must be complete before Copetti makes his return or he risks re-injury or even worse, a whole different injury. Hamstring injuries tend to hang around more than any other injury so it will be important for our DP to fully recover before getting back onto the pitch, so we do not lose him for even longer.

Stay tuned to our live blog and social media channels for the latest on Enzo Copetti’s injury, squad news, and more!

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor and none of my work should be taken as medical advice.