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Marco van Ginkel appears to be on the road to recovery once again. After a recent report, a few weeks back, about how he’s continuing to suffer from persistent knee issues, the (not so) young (anymore) midfielder posted a photo on his Instagram account earlier this week, posing with Chelsea physio Stu Sullivan and captioning it with a “see you in a few weeks my friend”.
Keeping it positive, as always!
Every time Van Ginkel appears to be making a comeback, the question of whether he could still possibly play a role at Chelsea comes up. After all, he’s proven at least twice that he’s too good for the Eredivisie — no wonder PSV want him back again! — and in 2013, even José Mourinho was more than ready to entrust him with proper minutes. Earlier this year, after the winter transfer window, he was added to the club’s Premier League squad list. Unfortunately, he sustained yet another setback in his recovery, and that was that. The last time he has set foot on a football pitch was twelve months and twelve days ago, on the final day of the 2017-18 Eredivisie season.
And yet, hope persists.
Chelsea remain under a transfer ban as of this writing, and it’s unclear whether we will push to have it frozen this summer or just start serving the two-window punishment straight away. Should the club choose the latter option, could Van Ginkel find himself in contention for a spot in Maurizio Sarri’s squad? Seems unlikely. And yet, with Ruben Loftus-Cheek set to miss a fair few months, if not an entire year, Mateo Kovačić still not contracted beyond this season, and the only reinforcement potentially arriving is Mason Mount from his Derby County loan, perhaps the former PSV captain, who was always good for a goal or two and never shied away from a tackle, could provide cover in midfield. Maybe?
There are of course a lot of hypotheticals involved in this situation, including Van Ginkel’s own knees. But he has one more year left on his current Chelsea contract, and he’s obviously not one to give up easily on his dreams.
Get well soon, Marco!