Marco Van Ginkel Training With First Team
Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
Chelsea FC midfielder Marco Van Ginkel was back in first team training today just six short months after suffering an ACL injury in a Capital One Cup match against Swindon Town. Last month, Van Ginkel began working out with the Chelsea physios and training with the youth team. Now he has begun training with the senior squad again and posted a photo with Fernando Torres during said training. The fact that is he is up on his feet, running, and playing football whatsoever is remarkable after such a short time. That could be attributed to his young age, his first time suffering a major knee injury, and the wonderful medical staff at Chelsea.
Van Ginkel posted the following on his Instagram page:
If he develops the way Chelsea hopes he will, Van Ginkel is seen as the heir apparent to Frank Lampard in central midfield. He is a box to box midfielder that has represented the Netherlands at the senior level and is an exciting young talent. He is the rare player that was transferred from Dutch club Vitesse Arnhem to Chelsea and not loaned the other way around. Chelsea only paid £8 million for Van Ginkel but they were likely given a “frequent flyer” discount on account of all the Chelsea youngsters on loan there.
The Chelsea staff have supposedly come out and said that Van Ginkel could be back to travelling and possibly selected for a first team match as early as next Monday. This gives Mourinho some more flexibility in his lineups, particularly if Chelsea make a deep run in the Champions League. The optimal outcome for Marco’s season would be for him to continue training with the first team and hopefully make an impact for Chelsea. If he is not fit enough to do that yet then at the very least he can make himself available for the Netherlands squad at the World Cup. If he does end up being selected for the Netherlands then Chelsea supporters worldwide may get a chance to see the youngster on the biggest stage in world football.
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