Bentancur: "It won’t be long before I’m back at my usual level"

Rodrigo Bentancur believes he is close to displaying his best level as he works hard to get back to full match sharpness after enduring a challenging 2023 with injuries.

Sidelined for eight months with a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament sustained at Leicester City last season, the Uruguay international returned for only four games before an ankle injury in his first start of the season against Aston Villa ruled him out for another month.

'Lolo' made a surprise early comeback to start against Bournemouth in the Premier League on New Year's Eve, playing 58 minutes of our 3-1 win, before captaining the side in our FA Cup third round victory over Burnley five days later. A decision Ange Postecoglou made to reward the resilience and character the midfielder displayed through a tough 12 months.

Looking back to near his top level in our subsequent 2-2 draw at Manchester United, scoring his first goal of the season with a sumptuous second-half equaliser and playing the full 90 minutes as we twice came from behind at Old Trafford, the 26-year-old has featured in each fixture since but is yet to see out a whole game and came off the bench against Wolverhampton Wanderers last time out as he works his way back to his peak.

Whilst Lolo is the first to admit he hasn’t quite been able to find a consistent rhythm to recapture his pre-injury form in recent weeks, the influential midfielder has promised to keep working hard and believes it won’t be long until he is back to his best levels once again.

"I feel really good in myself," he said. "For the game at Manchester United, I went into it feeling in great shape, physically. But then we had a fortnight without any game, so really from a match-fitness point of view, I found it a little bit tough to then come back, what’s more in such an important cup fixture as Manchester City.

"But in any case, I do believe that I’m gradually getting back to my pre-injury form. I realise I’m still just a little bit off that right now, as I said just now, but I was out of action for over nine, almost ten months, if you combine the two injuries, and that really is a long time.

"So I have to just be calm and keep working hard and training like I have been and then it won’t be long before I’m back at my usual level once again."

Joining from Juventus in January, 2022, and making a huge impact prior to his ACL injury as he helped us qualify for the UEFA Champions League in his debut campaign and had notched his fifth league goal in 2022/23 before his injury at the King Power Stadium, Rodrigo is attempting to hit those levels again and has shown glimpses of what a key midfield general he is for us.

Making 12 appearances in all competitions so far this term, the 26-year-old's versatility is another valuable facet of his game within Ange's all-action midfield system and he is always ready to perform whatever role is required of him which points to the togetherness and family-like dynamic within the squad under our Head Coach.

"Honestly, whether I’m playing as a No 6 or a No 8, I honestly enjoy featuring in both roles," he added.

"I realise that I need a few more miles on the clock in order to get back to the level I was at before my injuries. I’m working on that currently, but whichever position the manager needs me to play in, I always hope to be ready to go and perform there.

"So, it absolutely is like I was saying, we’ve built a real family atmosphere here, in which everyone helps each other out, irrespective of whether or not they happen to be in the starting XI.

"We have a really healthy competition that exists within the group, and we’re showing proof of that all the time, and for that we’re really happy."

With Ange appointed in the midst of Lolo's rehabilitation from his knee injury over the summer, the midfielder was initially delayed in getting involved from the outset as a new playing style and philosophy was instilled in the group, but is immensely grateful for our Head Coach's attentiveness and support throughout his recovery and the opportunities he has been given since which has motivated him to continue working hard as the team prepares for our next fixture against Crystal Palace on 2 March.

"For me personally, I had to delay getting started working with him a little bit as a result of my knee injury," our number 30 explained.

"But he really was a great source of support for me. From the first day he got here, he was always keeping a close eye on how my knee injury was progressing. He’d ask me every week how I was feeling and how the rehab was coming along. He’s an excellent person and he’s shown just what a great professional he is too.

"So, once I was able to make my return, I just tried to settle back into playing in this side as quickly as I could. And I think he has given me some excellent opportunities to feature, and moving forward, I hope to be able to continue as I have been doing up to now."