Ex-Tottenham target suffers sickening leg break and is rushed to hospital for surgery as rival fans clap him off pitch

GENOA star Ruslan Malinovskyi suffered a horror injury as he broke his ankle and was rushed to surgery.

Malinovskyi, 31, started in Alberto Gilardino’s line-up against Venezia who won 2-0 on Saturday at the Pier Luigi Penzo Stadium.

Genoa star Ruslan Malinovskyi suffered a horror injuryRex

Malinovskyi broke his ankle in a match against VeneziaRex

Malinovskyi’s injury left the entire stadium in a state of shockEPA

And the playmaker went down with a shocking leg break in the 50th minute.

The Ukraine international’s team-mates and the Venezia players were left in a state of shock while the Genoa physios rushed to the pitch.

The Genoa star received a warm applause from both sets of fans as he was stretchered off.

Malinovskyi was rushed to hospital as he dislocated the joint and fractured the fibula of his right ankle.

Thankfully the operation went very well and the attacking midfielder shared a picture of himself giving the thumbs up from his hospital bed.

Genoa tweeted on Sunday: “Player Ruslan Malinovskyi underwent surgery on his right ankle this morning.

“The operation, performed by Prof. Federico Santolini and his team, was a complete success.

“The player is doing well and will begin rehabilitation at the Club’s facilities in the coming days.”

Malinovskyi used to be a top target for Tottenham as former manager Antonio Conte was keen to sign him in 2022.

Spurs were said to have made contact with Atalanta, when he used to play in Bergamo.

Nottingham Forest and West Ham were also keeping tabs on the Ukrainian.

However, a Premier League move never materialised and Malinovskyi instead went to Marseille on loan in 2023.

The versatile midfielder’s move to L’OM became permanent a few months later but ultimately joined Genoa.

The ex-Shakhtar Donetsk star has amassed a total of four goals and three assists in 36 appearances with the Serie A side.

Malinovskyi received a warm ovation from both sets of fans as he was stretchered offEPA