Almost fit Chelsea loanee Marco van Ginkel ‘itching’ to play again after 2.5-year absence

No one would’ve faulted Wulfert Cornelius “Marco” van Ginkel for giving up at any point in the last 2.5 years. One can only be reasably expected to handle so many disappointments, setbacks, and false hopes before simply drawing the logical conclusion that maybe it’s just not meant to be.

But Marco’s kept going. Like Shaun Kingston, he kept the fire burning.

“Eventually you find out that football is really your thing. That fire has always kept burning and it will do so for the time being. When you are that close, you know that you have not done everything for nothing.”

Last month, he gave himself a wonderful 28th birthday present by returning to the training pitch with PSV Eindhoven, where he’s once again on loan from Chelsea. And this month, he’s getting “the itch”. The Kavorka is strong with football.

“The knee is doing well, we are doing well. For the last two weeks, I have been doing everything with the group again.

“Now that I am so close again, it is starting to itch again. In the past two weeks, I have taken steps and now I have to take the step towards the games.”

-Marco van Ginkel; source: ESPN NL via Football Oranje

The Eredivisie season resumes this weekend after a break over the holidays, with PSV sitting just one point behind leaders Ajax. While Van Ginkel isn’t quite ready to make his competitive return — match fitness after all this time out won’t come quickly or easily — but it looks like we’re close to the light at the end of this long tunnel.

Good luck, Marco!