September 07, (THEWILL) – Nigeria’s Super Eagles player, Samuel Chukwueze, who had been on the sidelines with an injury, has returned to first-team training at his La Liga side Villarreal. This comes four months after suffering a crushing injury that left him out of contention for club and country.
The pacy winger was part of Villarreal’s UEFA Europa League triumph last season, starring for Unai Emery’s side as they went all the way to the final to lift the continental trophy. However, the former Golden Eaglets hero could only play 30 minutes of the second-leg semi-finals clash against English Premier League side Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium before the injury forced him to be substituted.
Chukwueze was reported to have sustained an injury to the anterior rectus of his left leg and required surgery, with the implication of a spell on the sidelines. Although he missed his side’s Europa League final victory over Manchester United, he joined the victory celebration to cap a fruitful 2020/2021 campaign.
In the time it has taken him to get back to competitive fitness, the Umuahia-born speedster has missed the first three La Liga matches this season, all of which have ended in draws. It also meant that Chukwueze could not feature for the Super Eagles in the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers earlier and the ongoing World Cup qualifiers.
There were some reports linking him with a move out of Villarreal during the transfer season but all that came to naught as he remained in Emery’s squad for the new season. Accordingly, the now fully-recovered 23-year-old has rejoined first-team training at Villarreal.
It should not be long before he returns to the starting lineup for Villarreal to help push them to victories again. When he does, the winger, who last featured for Nigeria in the 4-4 draw against Sierra Leone last year, should make a good turn to the right wing of Nigeria’s forward line too ahead of the Qatar 2022 World Cup.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
