Manchester City right-back Pablo Zabaleta has revealed publicly how he managed to pick up the longest injury of his career, sustained in a training-ground collision.
Having been ruled out of action for two months with a knee ligament issue, the Argentine has admitted his injury seemed innocuous upon first viewing – an accidental coming-together with one of the club’s summer signings, £49m-rated Raheem Sterling.
Innocuous challenge was Zabaleta's longest injury of his career
Returning to action with a late cameo appearance of the substitutes’ bench during their narrow 2-1 away win against Borussia Mönchengladbach last week, the reliable defender has been quick to set the record straight though.
He placed no blame whatsoever on the 20-year-old, who has settled into life in Eastlands fairly well after his controversial switch from Merseyside to the blue half of Manchester.
Zabaleta attaches no blame on Raheem for collision
As quoted by Manchester Evening News, Zabaleta said that "it wasn’t a bad challenge", and instead, "just how I fell." That being said though, it soon became apparent to the club’s medical doctor that it was a "typical medial ligament injury in my knee."
Thankfully though given the trauma, the scans showed it was only Grade Two damage, meaning that he wouldn’t require surgery to repair the injury.
Reflecting on the injury itself, Pablo confirmed it’s the longest amount of time that he’s been sidelined, during his entire career. "All the other problems have been muscle strains or head wounds."
Sagna eager to challenge Zabaleta for first-team spot
In his absence, Bacary Sagna has settled in well to the right-back spot for Manuel Pellegrini's men. The former Arsenal man is certainly hoping to push Pablo competitively, so he can become a mainstay within the side.
Since he was given the all-clear to return though, Zabaleta played the full ninety minutes during their 6-1 rout over Newcastle; suggesting that the Frenchman will have a tough time of trying to shift a more-familiar face out of the team on a regular basis.