In a bit of good news, Orlando's new star striker Ercan Kara has been diagnosed with a sprained ankle and is listed as day-to-day, according to the Orlando Sentinel's Austin David. The update comes after the Austrian went down in Saturday's preseason friendly and had to be carted away.
Initial suspicion thought it may have been a serious knee injury, but instead it's just an ankle sprain.
Ankle sprains are a tricky injury, but Kara should be able to play early this season. It's hard to say exactly when he'll be available since there's a lot of variability with an injury like this. Don't expect him to start matchday one, but he should be able to go by March or April.
This is a huge relief after the initial fears on Saturday. Kara is one of the most important additions of the offseason and will play a huge role in any Orlando City success this season. Without him, Orlando has no true goalscoring threat. With the injury being only a day-to-day injury, Kara's acclimation to the squad and league won't be set back that significantly. With new signings, it's important to get as much time as possible in preseason and early in the year to get settled with the team so that by year's end, and hopefully playoff time, they're at full strength. Hopefully Kara will be back in training soon and able to compete early on in the first weeks on the season.
This update is also a promising development in the club's transparency. Orlando City is notoriously stingy with its information about injuries, with the infamous "lower body injury" designation becoming a meme in the Orlando City community. With the Kara reports, reporters are finally getting some real information regarding injuries, which is a breath of fresh air.