Football.London’s Alasdair Gold has revealed that the medical staff at Tottenham Hotspur do not expect Rodrigo Bentancur to return to his best until next season, with the midfielder still getting readjusted to playing at high intensity after recovering from his ACL injury.
It is fair to say that Bentancur has been well short of his best over the last few weeks, with the Uruguayan still appearing to be a little lacking in sharpness.
Against Brighton on Saturday, the 26-year-old uncharacteristically gave the ball away in dangerous areas on a couple of occasions, with one of those instances leading to the Seagulls’ penalty.
Bentancur’s recovery is a work in progress
According to Gold, those at Spurs are not surprised that Bentancur is taking his time to come up to speed, with the medical team not expecting him to see the old version of him until the 2024-25 season.
The journalist explains that this is natural with ACL injuries as the body needs to rebuild itself, with the player needing to be ‘re-educated’ in the things they used to do naturally beforehand.
Gold also revealed that as Bentancur emerged from the tunnel for the second half, Yves Bissouma appeared to be giving him a pep talk, with the Malian even shouting something towards his teammate before he ran onto the pitch.
Whatever Bissouma said seems to have worked, with the former Juventus man giving a better account of himself in the first 15 minutes of the second half before he was withdrawn by Ange Postecoglou.
Spurs Web Opinion
We have seen time and again that players returning from ACL injuries can take a long time to return to the best, with Virgil van Dijk being a prime example. I am sure that Postecoglou and the coaching staff will be patient with the Uruguayan as he adds tremendous value to the side when he is at his best.
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