PSG: Nine months after injury, Timothy Pembele is enjoying his comeback

End of a long struggle. After nine difficult months of holding on mentally, physically and holding out hope for better days, Timothée Pembele found a smile on Monday evening when he returned to the court for an official match at the Bollaert-Delelys Stadium. on the occasion of the victory of the Parisians over the amateurs US Pays de Cassel (0-7). Held in the right lane in the absence of Nordi Mukiele (injured) and Ashraf Hakimi who replaced him at the hour mark, the young 20-year-old defender put aside hard times to make it sober and clean.

289 days separated this match from April 10, 2022, where during the victory of the Girondins de Bordeaux over Metz (3: 1) at the end of last season, the Parisian suffered a rupture of the cruciate ligaments of the knee. Then he began his Way of the Cross. Without a doubt, the most difficult period of his young career. “To redo the title match against PSG makes me very happy, I especially wanted to have fun, I did it and I am happy with the victory. All my teammates and staff helped me with this. It’s good for morale,” Pembele said into the microphone at BeIN Sports after his return to the competition.

Timothée Pembele, loaned out last season to Bordeaux where he performed well before a serious injury (28 games, 3 goals), gave himself time to come back without waiting for the stages. Along with his entourage, he tested the latest World Cup-related truce to get closer to the resumption of competition. He was operated on by the very famous professor Bertrand Sonnery-Cotte in Lyon, like Zlatan Ibrahimovic or Nabil Fekir before him, it was in Capbreton (Landes) that he began his rehabilitation for almost a month. Returning to Val-d’Oise last summer, he could count on his family’s support at times when the pain could sometimes wake up as he traveled back and forth between Paris and the national football center in Clairefontaine to keep an eye on his life. rehabilitation.

“He’s very serious and well controlled”

In the meantime, PSG staged a massive internal coup, but the new management under Luis Campos quickly reassured him of their intentions towards him. “Timothy, I see him coming to work every day. He is very serious and well controlled by our medical staff. I don’t know yet how the second half of the season will turn out. The most important thing is that he can gradually find sensations, ”said Christophe Galtier in mid-November.

After three weeks of gradual recovery in the under-19 group, Timothée Pembele partially resumed work at the Camp de Loges with the first team in early December. Then in a full collective session right after Christmas, when all the players of the national team from Qatar had not yet returned. Then he was able to express himself and convince his coach that he was on the right track.

Last week he already got a taste for effort in a few minutes match in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) against Cristiano Ronaldo and others. The first dance, so a second was required a few days later. End of the tunnel finally for the international Espoirs (pick 1) that Thomas Tuchel launched in Ligue 1 on November 28, 2020… against Bordeaux.