Castagne’s recovery after horror injury ‘incredible’
TIMOTHY Castagne has made an incredible recovery to be back in the Leicester City starting line-up less than three months after he nearly lost his sight, Brendan Rodgers says.
The Belgian full-back was involved in a dramatic clash of heads in his nation’s opening Euro 2020 match against Russia, forcing him off after 25 minutes.
Scans showed that he had suffered a multiple fracture of his eye socket, with reports from Belgium suggesting that had the impact been three centimetres higher, his career would have been over.
In late June, he had a six-hour operation to correct the damage and, a few months on, he is playing for City again, albeit in a protective mask.
After coming on as a substitute in the win over Norwich, he played two sets of 90 minutes for Belgium over the international break, then started his first City game of the new campaign in Saturday’s 1-0 loss to Manchester City.
His manager has praised him for how quickly he has been able to return to fitness.
“He was so close to losing his sight,” Rodgers said.
“It was incredible and how quickly he’s come back is a real testament to Timothy and his mental strength.
“He hadn’t trained with the squad that long before we then had to put him in.
“But he’s shown immense mental fortitude to come back, wants to be in the thick of it and didn’t want to be protected in training, even though we were a little hesitant around contact at the beginning.
“He’s put the mask on, he’s comfortable and it was great to see him over the games in Belgium.
“That’s a great sign for him and of course for us.”
Saturday’s match was Castagne’s 36th for City following his £18 million move from Atalanta in the summer of 2020.
He has two goals and four assists to his name.