After some year of injury nightmare, Charly Musonda is hoping to return to the Chelsea first-team alongside fellow academy graduates Reece James, Mason Mount and Tammy Abraham.
Charly Musonda was once a transfer target for every major clubs across Europe with Chelsea beating the likes of Barcelona, Manchester United, Real Madrid, and Manchester City to his signature.
Charly Musonda Injury Nightmare
At 15, Chelsea brought Charly Musonda and his two brothers to Stamford Bridge and the young Belgian was starting out on a glittering career in west London not until his injury nightmare.
Musonda’s progress has been hampered through years of injury issues and was once told he only had a 20% chance of retuning to his football career again following a posterior cruciate ligament injury.
Nine years on, Musonda injury nightmare has not been encouraging seeing his fellow Chelsea academy counterparts Tammy Abraham, Reece James and Mason Mount break into the first team and receive international call-up with England National team.
The Belgian told BBC Sport about the opinion from the medical experts: “The doctors said: ‘If you have a surgery now, you’re going to miss another year.
“It’s going to be three years of no football so it’s going to be impossible for you to come back’,” he explains.
“A PCL surgery is not common in football. It’s not like an ACL [anterior cruciate ligament] where you have surgery and in six months you can come back.
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“They told me the odds of coming back were like 20%. Of coming back and being at the top level, being able to compete and play for a club like Chelsea, it was slim to none. A very difficult one.
During Musonda’s course to revive his football career his Chelsea academy teammates have all gone to limelight by establishing themselves as first-team regulars for the Blues.
Musonda has acknowledged there are mixed reactions seeing his friends do so well, but his main feeling is pride due to knowing how difficult the journey is from academy to first team.
“I know how hard it is, so I’m really proud of them,” he said. “Seeing people you’ve grown up with doing so well, you can only be happy. Hopefully, I’ll be able to one day train and play with them again.”
“It’s very difficult to have three years without being able to do what you really love,” he said. “I would be lying to say that it’s been easy, but I’ve always known that some struggles are worth going through.
“I feel like a fighter now preparing for a boxing match. It would be an incredible comeback – an incredible story. Every day is part of the journey, every day a step closer to coming back. I’m on the right track.
“I do believe that if I put a run together and I come back, I can play for a good 10 years. I’m still 24 – if I come back in the prime of my career, I can put a run together – that’s my goal.”
Charly Musonda is still in contract with the Blues and hoping to fulfill his potential that put him in a great demand as a teenager.
