Nikola Katic has confirmed that he isn’t going to play for Rangers until next year.
The Croatian centre-back, a £2 million signing back in 2018, suffered ACL damage a little earlier this month.
It was reported that Katic – who has undergone surgery – wouldn’t be available for Rangers for the rest of the calendar year.
And the big defender has confirmed the blow, but revealed that he has already began light rehabilitation work after the surgery.
He told The Record: “There was a rupture of my anterior cruciate ligament and it’s estimated I should be back by the New Year, so we’ll see how recovery goes. I was in surgery last week and I have already started light rehabilitation.
“It’s possible the injury happened because of the extent of the break we had, but we will never know. It’s certainly not the same training at home, as with the team. I think the long break created problems and if you look at Germany for example, we saw there were many injuries after the first game back there.”
Fortunately for Rangers, they’re well-stocked in regards to central defenders, even with Katic’s absence.
Manager Steven Gerrard still has Filip Helander, Connor Goldson and George Edmundson, so there’s no urgent need to replace Katic.
Then again, the Gers boss is charged with stopping Celtic’s 10-in-a-row bid and if someone like Goldson were to get injured, Rangers would be up a very famous creek.
So maybe signing a replacement for Katic is the correct course of action here.
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