Angelo Ogbonna closing in on first-team return
Slaven Bilic revealed after January’s win over Middlesbrough that centre-back Angelo Ogbonna had been playing through a knee injury which would now require surgery, putting him out for the rest of the season.
I have to praise Angelo Ogbonna, because he has played the whole season with an injury. He needs an operation on his knee to be fit long-term, and it was supposed to be a couple of weeks but we asked him to play. Angelo will now have surgery after today’s game which will rule him out until the end of the season.
After undergoing surgery on his patella injury, the £9m signing from Juventus began an intensive rehab regime to get him back fit for pre-season given that he was not expected to return before the end of the current campaign.
West Ham’s Head of Medical and Sports Science Stijn Vandenbroucke has issued frequent updates on the club site over the last two months detailing the progress that Ogbonna has made in his recovery.
Twitter: The struggle continues… #Ogbonna #Training #COYI @WestHamUtd https://t.co/zWluoIUHKB (@OgbonnaOfficial)
In his latest column, Vandenbroucke reveals that the 28-year-old is progressing well after his surgery and if he stays on schedule, he’s expected to return to first-team training in the next four to five weeks.
Angelo Ogbonna is progressing well after his knee surgery in late January and, if his rehab remains on schedule, he will return to training with the first team in around four to five weeks.
Given the current timetable issued, we could see Ogbonna back in training by the end of April, possibly even as soon as Everton’s trip to the London Stadium on April 22nd.
However, a more likely return date could be West Ham’s trip to Stoke on April 29th, or the derby against Tottenham on May 6th – if the club decide to throw Ogbonna into the action before the end of the season at all.
Either way, in a season littered with devastating injuries, it’s great to hear that one of our key players is well on the road to recovery.