Brighton forward Evan Ferguson has found himself at the heart of a club vs country row over the past few days.
The striker joined AS Roma on a loan-to-buy deal over the summer, but he has struggled at the club despite enjoying such a promising pre-season. Ferguson is without a goal in 10 appearances for the Italian outfit, prompting internal conversations about whether the loan stint could be cut short.
The 21-year-old will be keen to prove himself in the meantime and justify his spot at the Stadio Olimpico. However, his hopes of doing so appear to have been dealt another blow.
Ferguson sustained an ankle injury just seven minutes into Roma’s clash with Parma last month, which has left him sidelined for the past two matches. But that hasn’t stopped Ireland from naming him in their squad for their upcoming games against Portugal and Hungary.
According to Gazzetta dello Sport, the call-up has come as a major ‘surprise’ to Roma as they don’t feel that Ferguson is ready to return to competitive football so soon.
Gian Piero Gasperini’s side were hopeful that Ireland would allow their No. 11 to rest during the international break, but instead they want to assess Ferguson’s condition before deciding whether he will be fit to feature in their upcoming World Cup qualifiers.
Speaking about the call, Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrimsson said: “He’s back on the grass. He’s recovering from a knock. We’ll call him in, and would have called him in anyway to assess him and maybe had the option of playing him only for the second game.
“He has been key to our goals and scoring for us, so we’ll call him in and we’ll assess him. But we are positive that he will be ready.”
If Ferguson were to re-aggravate his ankle injury whilst away on international duty, then it could prove to be a bitter pill to swallow for Roma, who are already discussing other strikers who could be signed on loan to replace the Seagulls youngster.