Sources: Ian Fray suffers another torn ACL in practice
The young centerback will miss the entire 2022 season after injuring his right knee on Tuesday
Inter Miami has had a number of injuries this preseason, but the latest is a significant blow.
Promising young centerback Ian Fray has suffered another torn right ACL, sources have told Miami Total Futbol. Fray sustained the knee injury in training on Tuesday, and will be out for the entire 2022 season.
(Update: Inter Miami confirmed the news on Tuesday afternoon with an official announcement.)
The news is devastating to both the player and team. The academy product and Coconut Creek native missed the entire 2021 campaign, his first as an MLS player, after suffering a torn ACL in the same knee during voluntary workouts just before the start of last year’s preseason.
“The journey back was tough, as any injury would be,” Fray told Miami Total Futbol last month. “A lot of people have gone through this injury before. It was tough but I thank (head athletic trainer Kei Utsumi) and the medical staff. They made it a lot easier.”
Fray had entered the 2022 preseason with a clean bill of health, and was one of the biggest bright spots for Inter Miami through five weeks. Not only did he play well defensively as a starter with the presumed first team, but he scored two goals and showed real confidence in penetrating the opposing half with dribbling forward runs.
“We are going to be really patient with Ian,” said head coach Phil Neville after Fray scored vs. Universitario on Jan. 26. “We have got high hopes for the kid. He has got the tools that you want as a defender. The reading of the game, the composure, and the speed, but he has had a big injury and this is his first real taste of first-team football.
“They say from a medical point of view, the time you have had out, it will take you the same amount of time to get back to your best so we have just got to be patient.”
Fray appeared to be on his way to starting the Feb. 26 season opener vs. the Chicago Fire, but Neville will have to go with one of his other options if Inter Miami is to stick with a five-man back line. Other candidates to start alongside the likes of Damion Lowe and Christopher McVey in that setup are Jairo Quinteros, Aime Mabika, the injured Kieran Gibbs, and unsigned first-round draft pick Ryan Sailor.
Inter Miami has been bitten hard by the injury bug this winter. Several players have had spells or are currently on the sidelines, including the aforementioned Gibbs and Quinteros, Victor Ulloa, Robbie Robinson, Nick Marsman, Mo Adams, Edison Azcona, Leonardo Campana, Emerson Rodriguez, Bryce Duke, and Joevin Jones.
The South Florida side’s next and last preseason match takes place on Saturday night in the 2022 Carolina Challenge Cup finale against MLS expansion side Charlotte FC.