The best news to emerge from the Continassa on Thursday morning concerns Pape Matar Sarr. The Senegalese midfielder — who has been managing a physical carry-over from his final weeks at Tottenham since signing on deadline day — completed the entirety of Thursday’s training session with the group for the first time. According to Sky Sport, he will be included in the squad for Sunday evening’s away match at Sassuolo. The minor physical problems that delayed his full integration have been resolved. He is now up to speed with the rest of the squad.
It is a meaningful development — both for the Sassuolo match and for the Europa League opener against NEC Nijmegen on Thursday 17 September. Having a player of Sarr’s profile physically available removes one layer of anxiety from a midfield department that has been stripped to its bare bones by injury.
McKennie and Cambiaso: Saturday’s Final Session Is Decisive
The less straightforward update concerns Weston McKennie and Andrea Cambiaso — both of whom completed individual training programmes separate from the group on Thursday, maintaining the status they have held throughout the week. Their availability for Sunday remains genuinely uncertain and will be determined by Saturday’s final training session before the squad departs for Reggio Emilia.
Should either or both fail to demonstrate sufficient physical readiness on Saturday, the Europa League opener against NEC on Thursday 17 September becomes their more realistic return target — a further week of recovery providing the margin both situations appear to require.
The Full Injury Landscape — Those Closest, Those Furthest Away
The article provides the clearest available summary of the injury picture in its entirety. The three players closest to returning are Sarr, McKennie, and Cambiaso — in that order of certainty. The six facing considerably longer absences are Ekhator, Cabal, Boga, Yıldız, Thuram, and Locatelli. Between Sunday’s Sassuolo fixture and the November international break, Spalletti must navigate the season’s most demanding opening stretch with whatever resources remain. Sarr’s availability, confirmed on Thursday morning, is the one piece of genuinely good news in a week that has otherwise been defined by casualty lists.
