Bournemouth striker Callum Wilson cannot afford to rush his comeback from a second anterior cruciate ligament injury or risk ending his career, according to the Bournemouth Echo.
Wilson, 24, will miss the remainder of the season after suffering his second serious knee injury in the last two years and could now face a nine-month spell on the sidelines as he starts his rehabilitation period.
However, Charles Willis-Owen, a consultant at Royal Bournemouth Hospital, believes the Bournemouth ace can come back and continue to play at the highest level, although was adamant no shortcuts can be taken in his recovery.
“There is every reason to expect that Callum can get back to Premier League football with the right surgery and rehabilitation,” Willis-Owen told the Bournemouth Echo.
“The fact he will be going into surgery in the peak of fitness will stand him in good stead. Given he has been through it all before recently, this will help him in his rehab, too.
“Modern ACL reconstruction should give him a robust repair and a quick return to his best. He may well benefit from an additional graft to augment another ligament, the anterolateral ligament.
“Typically, it would be about nine months before he is match-ready. Any sooner would risk rupturing the graft and that really could be career-ending.”
Of players to have scored at least 10 goals in the last two Premier League season, only Kelechi Iheanacho (24.5%) has a better conversion rate than Wilson (22.9%).
For more stats on Callum Wilson, click here to visit his WhoScored player page
