Vitolo injured in Copa del Rey clash

Vitolo left in the first half of Las Palmas’ 3-2 loss to Deportivo La Coruña on Wednesday with a possible hamstring tear.

The on-loan attacker and Spain international was racing after the ball with Deportivo’s Guilherme when he was inadvertently struck on the leg. He collapsed to the pitch and left in tears in the 44th minute — and even though Las Palmas advanced to the Copa del Rey last 16 without him, the Canary Islanders won’t be the only team sweating the 28-year-old’s status.

Vitolo is set to join Atlético Madrid in January as the club will see its FIFA-imposed registration ban lifted. But if this injury is as bad as initially feared, his debut may have to wait a little longer — perhaps into next season, depending on the severity.

However, that’s speculation at this point. We’ll update once medical evaluations have taken place.

(UPDATE: AS say now that Vitolo will miss a month and should be available to Diego Simeone for Atlético’s fixture versus Getafe on Jan. 7.)