Former Arsenal and Lyon midfielder at Heracles Almelo requires surgery following training incident | OneFootball

Heracles Almelo midfielder Jeff Reine-Adélaïde twisted his knee last Friday during a training session and will travel to Lyon this week for surgery, as per Sander Janssen of Voetbal International.

Reine-Adélaïde suffered two cruciate ligament injuries while playing for Olympique Lyon and underwent surgery by the same doctor who will treat his current issue. The Frenchman struggled with his physical condition after the previous knee injuries.

He had hoped to regain fitness at Heracles and play, but for now, he has only made a substitute appearance against FC Utrecht in the first round due to the serious knee injury he sustained.

“It’s a terrible situation, especially for Jeff himself,” said coach Bas Sibum on the Heracles club channel. “He’s had a similar injury before and now has to go through this difficult process again. This is also a blow for the team. You saw Jeff getting better every day, and honestly, I haven’t seen a midfielder in the Eredivisie who can play football so well. Absolutely not. It’s a crying shame for us, our fans, and the neutral football fan that we can’t see him in action for a while.”

Reine-Adélaïde previously signed a two-year contract with Almelo and is now focusing on his recovery after surgery, which is expected to take months. Heracles are exploring options to cover the midfielder’s injury, and a reinforcement may reportedly arrive at the Asito Stadium before the end of the transfer window.

“We’re always working with the staff and scouting team to assess the state of our squad,” says technical director Nico-Jan Hoogma. “We’re in the middle of a process, but unforeseen circumstances sometimes mean you have to act differently than initially planned. Mario Engels, who was substituted within 15 minutes against FC Utrecht, is one such circumstance. We also have to wait until more is known about the severity of Jeff’s injury and the duration of his rehabilitation. We have until September 2nd to trade on the player market. We’ll use that time wisely to assess which qualities the squad needs most now.”

GBeNeFN | Max Bradfield