Azzurri hit by Immobile injury news

Italy could be hit by the loss of striker Ciro Immobile for Euro 2016 as he is no closer to returning to action from a problematic thigh injury.

The 26-year-old, who has been back with Torino in Italy’s Serie A on loan from Borussia Dortmund since the winter transfer window, had found his scoring boots with five goals and two assists in 11 appearances.

The stint with Torino followed on from two goals in eight outing with Spanish La Liga side Sevilla in the first half of the campaign. Immobile looked a certain to be in Italy coach Antonio Conte’s plans for the European Championships this summer until he aggravated a long-standing injury to his right thigh during the 4-1 home defeat against Juventus on March 20.

Immobile has been struggling to shake off the injury since and tests on his thigh this week have shown a problem with the blood flow in that area.

Until that returns to normal, Immobile cannot return to full training and with games running out for him to feature in to prove his fitness, his chances of being in Conte’s squad in France this summer are diminishing.

The news on Immobile follows on from Juventus midfielder Claudio Marchisio already being ruled out after tearing knee ligaments during a 4-0 Serie A victory against Palermo earlier this month. Italy, who are 17.00 to win Euro 2016, can be backed at 2.60 to win Group E ahead of Sweden, Belgium and Republic of Ireland.