Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/565097
21 Sport maltatoday, Wednesday, 2 september 2015 football formula 1 Knee surgery for roma's Strootman Injured roma midfielder Kevin strootman announced he would undergo knee surgery on tuesday and be sidelined until the new year The holland international has not featured for Roma since Jan- uary 25. he was expected to be fit for the start of the season after a left knee injury limited him to just four appearances for the Gial- lorossi in the 2014-15 campaign, but has not been involved. The 25-year-old, who joined Roma in the summer of 2013 from PSV eindhoven, wrote on his Facebook page: "There has been a lot of speculation in the media about my rehabilitation. "Unfortunately due to a lack of power in my left leg I can- not compete at the highest level right now. "The last few weeks we have consulted many top professors all over (the world), and they and the medical staff of AS Roma have advised me to re- construct the existing anterior cruciate ligament into another position in order for me to have less problems with my knee in the future and to regain my power again. "I will undergo surgery this morning. "I am hugely disappointed that I cannot contribute to AS Roma and the Dutch National Team for the next few months, but I will do everything to get back on the pitch as soon as possible." Strootman enjoyed a strong debut campaign with Roma, scoring five goals and setting up six more in 25 league starts be- fore sustaining a knee injury in March 2014. he missed the World Cup in Brazil last summer and re- turned in November 2014 eight months after undergoing a knee operation. Strootman sustaining further damage to his anterior cruciate ligament earlier this year and again went under the knife. Roma, coached by Rudi Gar- cia, are looking to challenge for the Scudetto this season after finishing a distant second to Juventus last season. They will also compete in the Champions League. Strootman is facing another spell on the sidelines Jenson Button braced for 'very challenging' Italian GP MCLAReN driver Jenson But- ton says he is braced for a 'very challenging' Italian GP after in- curring problems in Belgium. While the high speed circuits at Spa-Francorchamps and Monza were never likely to play to McLaren's strengths, a hon- da power unit update had raised hopes of a more competitive showing that was possible in Belgium. Button was hampered by a deployment problem and finished 14th - one place behind team-mate Fernando Alonso - and he is expecting another un- competitive weekend. "Spa was a very tough race for the team, and especially so on my side of the garage due to the deployment issues I had on the straights," Button said. "We're working hard on this and we're optimistic that there won't be a repeat in Monza, as it really hin- dered any chance I had of keep- ing up with the rest of the pack. That said, Monza's high speeds will prove very challenging for us, but we'll give it our all and stay focussed as ever. "The key for us will be getting the maximum from the car on Saturday, to give ourselves a fighting chance of a good bat- tle on Sunday afternoon. De- spite the issues, the car was well balanced in Spa and felt good to drive, particularly in qualif ying, so we'll aim to make the most of that in Monza, too, before we head to the f ly-aways where there'll be circuits that'll suit our car's strengths much better." however, Button is hopeful of still being able to enjoy the race weekend at Monza, calling it a unique circuit to race on. "Monza is such a great place, definitely one of the most in- credible races on the calendar for a driver, and always such a thrill to race on. It's completely unique in terms of the setup it demands, and I love the feeling you get when you hit the sweet spot in the corners – keeping the car controlled under heav y braking on the way in is tricky, and then on the way out it be- comes very unsettled as you're trying to get the power down, so it's a great test of nerve." Jenson Button Berahino threatens Baggies strike SAIDo Berahino appeared to indicate he will never play for West Brom again after they re- jected two deadline-day bids from Tottenham. In a message on his official Twitter account, the striker seemed to hint he was pre- pared to go on strike at The hawthorns in a last-ditch at- tempt to force a move to White hart Lane. It read: "Sad how i cant say exactly how the club has treat- ed me but i can officially say i will never play Jeremy Peace." Baggies chairman Peace had rejected a third and fourth bid from Spurs for the england Under-21 international late on deadline day. It is understood the bids were only marginally better than the north London club's sec- ond offer, made last month, which would have only risen to £21million with clauses and add-ons. Berahino had a transfer re- quest rejected last month, with Albion angered by Totten- ham's continued pursuit of the forward. The Baggies are understood to be unhappy with Spurs' ap- proach to the deal, which only strengthened their resolve to keep Berahino. The frontman has been left out of West Brom's last three squads during the speculation, with boss Tony Pulis insisting he was not in the right state of mind to play. Spurs have been searching for more firepower to help harry Kane and, despite sign- ing Son heung-min from Bayer Leverkusen, maintained their interest in Berahino. he scored 20 goals last sea- son and earned a call-up to the england senior squad, but missed this summer's euro- pean Under-21 Championship with a knee injury. Saido Berahino