Ange’s latest on Bentancur’s recovery: “We'll be careful with him”

Ange Postecoglou reports that Rodrigo Bentancur is now back in full training but promises to ‘take our time’ with the midfielder after such a long stint on the sidelines.

It’s now over eight months since the Uruguay international ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in a Premier League clash at Leicester City.

It was a huge blow for Rodrigo and the team with him such an influential figure in his first year at the club after signing from Juventus in January, 2022.

He’s yet to play under Ange, but that day is drawing ever closer, as Ange explained in his pre-Fulham press conference on Friday.

He said: “We've drip-fed him into training the last month and he's coped pretty well with that. Now he's into full training. We've got to be mindful that he's missed a fair bit of football, but I think the more he trains with the first team over the next few weeks we'll sort of pick our moment.

“He's looking good in training, and it was great to have him for the last couple of weeks to fully integrate with the guys who are here and we're looking forward to having him back.”

Asked if he could return for Monday night’s derby against Fulham, Ange replied: “No, he won't be in the squad on Monday. He has just started training, so we will take our time with him. He's missed a lot of football and we'll have a look at the next few weeks, the games we've got and when we've seen enough in training and he feels comfortable, we'll slowly reintegrate him back into the team.”