Manchester City winger Leroy Sané has revealed the particular role teammates İlkay Gündoğan and Benjamin Mendy played in helping him recover from his long-term injury.
Back in August during the Community Shield win over Liverpool, the Germany international damaged the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his right knee, forcing him to face the prospect of missing months of action.
And while it has been a frustrating season on the sidelines for Sané, he revealed in an interview with the club's official website how both Gündoğan and Mendy were able to guide him through his recovery. The pair had previously experienced long periods on the injury table for similar knee ligament injuries and gave the winger advice during his rehabilitation process.
He said: “The whole team supported me, of course. But I was especially talking to Gündoğan and Mendy a little bit more about the injury, what they did, what could happen and their experience with everything.
“It helped me a lot to know how certain stuff feels and what can happen. It helped me and I’m very pleased that they pushed me along with that.”
The 24-year-old also revealed how he used the time out to improve the weaknesses in his game when his rehabilitation process allowed him to, which he believes will make him a better player.
He added: “It was the hardest and longest injury that I’ve ever had in my career. It is difficult. Especially the first day after the surgery because you can’t move at all and that’s not something any of us athletes are used to.
“You have to push yourself every day because you know it’s a long rehab, but it is a good opportunity to work more on other weaknesses and that’s why I took it as a chance to recover well and come back strong.”
Sané has been out for the last six months, before finally returning to on-field training in February. He recently made his return by playing for City's Under-23 side, as they won 4-2 against Arsenal's Under-23s.
Source : 90min