Bologna suffered a setback at the start of the new Italian Serie A season, losing the services of their experienced new striker Ciro Immobile for eight weeks due to a thigh injury, the club announced on Monday.

Immobile was injured half an hour into the match that Bologna lost 0-1 to Roma on Saturday in the first round of the domestic league.

Bologna stated that the injury to the right thigh will keep the 35-year-old out of action for approximately eight weeks.

Immobile returned to the Italian league this summer after a season in Turkey where he played for Besiktas.

During his Turkish adventure last season, he scored 15 goals in 31 matches with Besiktas before terminating his contract, which was valid until June 2026 with an option for an additional season.

Starting his professional career at Juventus, Immobile moved between Genoa, Torino, Borussia Dortmund (2014-2015), and Sevilla (2015-2016), before settling at Lazio where he shone between 2016 and 2024, scoring 207 goals in 340 matches across all competitions with the capital club.

In the 2019-2020 season, Immobile equaled the record for most goals in a single Serie A season held by Argentine Gonzalo Higuain by scoring 36 goals.

However, in his last season with Lazio, Immobile lost his place in the starting lineup and became unpopular with fans to the extent that his wife and children were threatened.

Immobile, a four-time Serie A top scorer, was part of the Italian national team that won the European Championship in summer 2021, scoring 17 goals in 57 appearances for the national team.

Thanks to winning the Italian Cup, Bologna will compete in the Europa League this season after participating in the Champions League last season.