It didn’t seem that Wesley Moraes was returning from injury any time soon after Dean Smith recently revealed that the striker was struggling with putting different pressures on his knee and wasn’t close to reaching his aerobic capacity, and the Aston Villa manager’s latest update is not encouraging.
The 24-year-old has been out of action for 13 months with an anterior cruciate ligament injury and isn’t close to returning as he is still working on his range of movement and is yet to reach his sprinting capacity.
Smith told Birmingham Live: “He is still not close to joining in. We are still working on his range of movement and getting him up to his sprinting capacity that he was at before the injury.
“He has still not managed to get to that yet so it is ongoing work with the rehab staff and with us as coaches as well.”
This isn’t good news. Wesley was expected to return this season, so a new striker wasn’t signed in the January transfer window. However, if the Brazilian is some way off coming back, Villa are gambling on Ollie Watkins staying fit for the course of the campaign while Keinan Davis warms the bench.
The 25-year-old has played every minute of every Premier League game since joining from Brentford last summer, so it’s a real gamble by the recruitment team not to bring in another centre-forward.
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It’s now February and Wesley is still not close to coming back, so will he even return in time before the season ends?
Villa aren’t going to rush him given the nature of his injury, so not bringing in a centre-forward may cost them as they push for a European finish.
