Bundesliga side Freiburg SC is uncertain about the return of Daniel-Kofi Kyereh to the field after an injury sidelined him for the past year.
The Ghana international tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) during training in February 2023 and has been out of action since undergoing surgery.
This marks the second time Kyereh has suffered this injury, with the first occurrence happening in July 2015 while playing for TSV Havelse. During that time, at 19 years old, he required nine months to fully recover, which is the typical recovery period for ACL injuries.
Yet, it has now been more than a year since his latest operation, and there are no signs of him returning to training with the Freiburg squad.
The German club, when contacted by 3Sports, stated, "Kofi is still in rehab training. There is no prediction from our side as to when he will be back on the field."
Since his injury, Kyereh has been in rehabilitation in Barcelona, Spain, where he has been working with top doctors.
“We’re right on schedule. It’s progressing day by day,” Kyereh had told Freiburg’s media team back in July 2023.
This year, Freiburg head coach Christian Streich acknowledged that Kyereh may be sidelined for some time as he has faced challenges in his rehabilitation.
“For Kofi, things are moving forward. You have to imagine it a bit like a staircase. He fights his way up one step, then it takes him a while before he can take the next step. It’s not seamless. Kofi has already had a torn cruciate ligament. It wasn’t all straightforward. That’s why we’re happy now,” said Streich.
“There’s a lot going on in a straight line. He can make a lot of power in the runs. If it goes to the side, when the centrifugal forces come, then he notices some pain. It’s getting better there too, but of course, it’s not 100% yet. We just have to wait and see. It was clear to me relatively quickly that it wouldn’t be six or seven months, but a long time. But he’s on the way, things are getting better and he’s working hard,” he added.
With about three months left in the season, it seems highly unlikely that Kyereh will feature for Freiburg. He will need to be pain-free in rehabilitation before building up fitness in the gym, progressing to ball work, and eventually gaining match fitness through group training and low-intensity games (friendlies, youth games, etc.).
If the former St. Pauli midfielder is to miss the rest of the season, his next chance to play for Ghana could be around September.