USMNT and Gregg Berhalter dealt blow as Burnley wonderkid Luca Koleosho ruled out for months with serious knee injury

The 19-year-old winger went down to the ground in the first half during Burnley's 1-0 defeat to Wolves at the Molineux. Although Koleosho tried to run off his injury, he could not and Vincent Kompany revealed that his scan results were far from encouraging.

Speaking to reporters after the match, Kompany said: "It’s bad news for us. He’s going to be out for a while apparently. I’d like to think he’ll still play this season, but it might be towards the end of the season. We’ll do everything we can to make sure that he’ll get back healthy and ready to go again.”

Kompany assured that the medical staff will not rush with Koleosho to prevent any long-term damage.

"I think now the key concern for us is to make sure he doesn’t sustain any long-term damage because he’s still young, we’ll do everything right by him,” he said. "Plus the fact that it’s a blow for a young player. I still think it’s for someone else now to step up and wear the shirt in a way that Luca has done. In these moments if you keep your head calm you can really get better, get stronger from these moments. I’ve no doubt he’ll come back stronger, but for us short-term wise, it’s an undeniable blow.”

Koleosho remains a top target for USMNT and Berhalter has been making efforts to lure him to the United States. However, it remains a tough job as he is also eligible to play for Nigeria and Canada. He was born in the USA but was raised by a Nigerian father and an Italian-Canadian mother which makes him eligible to represent multiple nations.

Koleosho's international football journey has been diverse. In August 2019, he made four appearances with the United States U15 side. However, when he received a call-up to join a training camp with the Canadian senior side in June 2022, he took the opportunity with both hands.

In early 2023, Koleosho became a part of the Italian U19 squad. He made a late appearance during a friendly match against Slovenia. Subsequently, he was included in the squad for the UEFA European Under-19 Championship. However, Koleosho is yet to make a senior debut for any of the countries he has been associated with, which makes Berhalter optimistic that he can convince the youngster to choose the Stars and Stripes.