Athletic Bilbao manager Ernesto Valverde has disclosed that Inaki Williams is currently sidelined following surgery to remove a two-centimetre piece of glass from his foot.
This development casts doubt on the 29-year-old striker’s participation in Ghana’s 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Mali and the Central African Republic (CAR).
During a press conference, Valverde explained that Williams had been playing with the glass in his foot since an accident two years ago.
Although he had initially recovered from the injury, it was recently discovered that a portion of the glass was still embedded in his foot, necessitating the surgical procedure.
“We did a scan after the final, and we discovered that he still had some glass in his foot. When they stitched him up the first time, they left the glass in there,” Valverde said, as quoted by Football Espana.
“In addition, it’s not a small piece, it’s about 2cm. It was next to a bone or a tendon, but we had to extract it. The truth is that myself and the doctor were laughing because we couldn’t believe it.”
Williams, renowned for his impressive injury-free streak of 251 consecutive matches for Athletic Bilbao, has recently missed several games for both club and country. He will also be absent from Athletic Bilbao’s final match of the season against Rayo Vallecano.
The Ghanaian forward now faces a tight timeline to recover in time for Ghana’s upcoming World Cup qualifiers.
The Black Stars are set to travel to Bamako to face Mali on June 6, followed by a home game against the Central African Republic at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium in Kumasi on June 10.