Chelsea loanee Marco van Ginkel has opened up on the knee infection that kept him sidelined for nearly three years and left him questioning whether he would walk again.
Van Ginkel joined the Blues back in 2013 and has spent the overwhelming majority of his Stamford Bridge career out on loan. His most impressive spell was with PSV Eindhoven during the 2017/2018 campaign, where he managed 16 goals in 33 appearances.
At the end of that season, he underwent an operation to correct a problem with his anterior cruciate ligament. As reported by Goal, the procedure took a bad turn, with Van Ginkel picking up an infection. As a result he was forced to undergo three more surgeries in quick succession, as well as spend three months on antibiotics.
"The danger was there that I would lose my career, of course," he said. "Especially after the first week of infection, they didn't know what the infection was doing inside the joint.
"After three months I reacted well, but it was going to be a tough, tough time to be at the top level again, to come back and play for PSV, Chelsea or whoever. At that moment, it was more about whether I could walk again. Football didn't matter.