WEST BROMWICH, England (AP) — United States striker Daryl Dike will be sidelined for up to nine months because of an Achilles tendon injury, his English second-division club said on Tuesday.
West Bromwich Albion said the oft-injured Dike will require surgery to repair a full rupture of his right Achilles and will be out for six-to-nine months.
“Words cannot be made to describe how I feel right now,” Dike wrote on his social media accounts. “Beyond gutted for this injury as it feels like nothing I do can seem to go my way at the moment.”
The 22-year-old was injured during West Brom's 2-1 win at Stoke in the League Championship on Saturday.
Dike, who missed last year's World Cup because of injuries, pledged to return.
“In life things will happen that are beyond your control despite your best efforts... Now is my time to bounce back and give myself a positive reaction,” he wrote.
Dike scored seven goals in 23 league appearances and 25 overall games this season.
The Oklahoma native joined West Brom in January 2022 from Major League Soccer's Orlando City. He debuted as a second-half sub against Queens Park Rangers that Jan. 15 and sustained a season-ending hamstring injury in his first start, against Peterborough on Jan. 22.
Dike tore a thigh musle in this season's July 30 opener against Stoke and didn’t return until he entered in the 90th minute against Stoke on Nov. 12, West Brom’s last game before the World Cup break.
He returned to the U.S. national team last month for the first time since July 2021, playing in CONCACAF Nations League matches against Grenada and El Salvador.
___
More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
