Medical expert: West Ham star could emulate Zlatan Ibrahimovic after injury latest
West Ham defender Angelo Ogbonna could emulate Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s injury recovery if he takes his training regime to “new heights”.
That is the view of injury expert Ben Dinnery, who runs the Premier Injuries site and has a background in medicine and data analysis.
Ogbonna, 34, ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in November 2021 and underwent surgery soon after.
The London Evening Standard claim (24 May) that West Ham have “concerns” about the reliability of Ogbonna’s fitness in the long-term – with the Italian out of contract this month.
Manager David Moyes confirmed that the former Juventus defender had returned to individual training towards the end of the 2021-22 campaign.
Dinnery suggested Ogbonna could look to Ibrahimovic for inspiration after the then-Man United star recovered from ACL damage in 2017 at the age of 36.
He told Football Insider‘s Ewan Kingsbury: “We’re yet to see him back in full competitive action.
“As with any long-term setback, there are no guarantees that we will see a player return to pre-injury levels. That’s always a concern, no matter the age.
“There’s a lot of hard work ahead. But we’ve seen with Zlatan Ibrahimovic – although he may be the exception rather than the rule – that he can come back faster and stronger.
“Is that at all possible? It depends on whether he is working at an elite level off the pitch.
“I don’t know anything about Ogbonna personally. If he is someone who can push himself and his limits to new heights on that training ground – then he could well come back to a pre-injury level.
“If he’s someone who has hit that ceiling in training performance then it may be more difficult – there’s not a lot of wiggle room.”
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