Ilkay Gundogan opens up about torturous recovery from ACL injury as Manchester City midfielder admits feeling 'useless' during long lay-off
- Ilkay Gundogan has been sidelined with ACL injury since December last year
- German midfielder has opened up about physical and mental strain of recovery
- He said: 'That is the most difficult thing: to feel that you are useless'
- 26-year-old made his return to action for Manchester City last weekend
Ilkay Gundogan spent a torturous 276 days on the sidelines after suffering a ruptured ACL in December last year against Watford.
Following months of mental and physical anguish, the Manchester City midfielder took to the pitch once more last weekend, coincidentally against the Hornets, and his long road back was finally at an end.
The 26-year-old opened up to the New York Times about an immensely difficult struggle to overcome the demons in his mind as well as his body.
Ilkay Gundogan suffered a ruptured ACL last December and returned last weekend
'The worst thing for me is seeing the other players,' he said. 'I see them on the training field, when they are in the locker room, when they go up to the meeting before training.
'I see how they work in the gym, and I am not able to do the same. You know that you are not able to be a full part of the group.
'That is the most difficult thing: to feel that you are useless, not worth as much as before, not worth as much as the others,' he added.
The outpouring of relief Gundogan must have felt as he emerged from the substitutes bench at Vicarage Road on Saturday must have been overwhelming.
Having spent so long in isolation, away from his team-mates and adrift of Pep Guardiola's immediate thoughts, Gundogan found solace in the routine of rehab... and pain.
The German midfielder said he felt isolated from team-mates during his lay-off
Gundogan found the recovery process testing for both his body and his mind
'You need to go until the pain starts,' he said. 'You always go to the pain. The pain is a sign that this is new,'.
'To go to that point again and again, that is bad for the brain. Rehab is always up and down for the mind and for the body. And there have been points where my mind has said: 'O.K. I have to go now,' he confessed.
His cruel injury curtailed fantastic early progress at City but even rehab can teach it's own valuable lessons.
Having overcome ten months of isolation, pain and self doubt, Gundogan can reap the rewards of his own resilience and star for the Premier League leaders once more.
Gundogan will be looking to reach the heights he reached after first joining the club
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