Even I had an ‘Oh God What Now’ moment yesterday as I came across headlines indicating that Leeds United had suffered yet another massive injury blow and whilst I’m sure it’s a huge knock for the player concerned, I actually felt some relief.
Why?
Because it concerns Yosuke Ideguchi and not a current member of manager Marcelo Bielsa’s first team setup.
Having headed out of Elland Road over the summer to spend another loan spell away from us, but this time with German side Greuther Furth, and with a reported buy clause inserted in the deal, it was already known that he would spend a significant spell on the sidelines as in September he suffered a cruciate knee ligament injury but the decision was taken to avoid the usual – surgery.
He had only damaged part of the ligament so it wasn’t as strange a choice as it seemed originally, but it’s come back to bite him heavily it seems as although he was expected to return to training in January, it’s now being reported that he has suffered a setback and he might now be out for the remainder of the season.
If that happens you’d expect him to come back to the club for treatment and a full recovery, but his early promise and hype – well, the move for the lad certainly hasn’t gone to plan. Hopefully, he’ll get himself back on track as soon as he can so he doesn’t waste any more time.
But as said, compared to what I was expecting based on some headlines, it’s a relief of sorts.