Newcastle United’s forgotten man is attempting to return from yet another injury.
Its 28 months since Rolando Aarons enjoyed his finest performance in a Newcastle United shirt, announcing himself as one of the English game’s most exciting young prospects.
Scoring the opener and bullying the opposition backline into submission with his exhilarating combination of bravery and composure, The Magpies’ 2-0 win at the Etihad Stadium in the League Cup fourth round appeared to be Aaron’s breakthrough moment.
Flash forward to the present day, however, and the now-21-year-old has only featured 13 more times in the first-team thanks to a devastating and relentless string of injuries.
And, after slipping off the comeback trail once more by suffering a knee injury early in the season, Aarons has only recently returned to training with an April comeback in his sights, The Chronicle reports, after being sent to see a specialist known and trusted by Newcastle boss Rafael Benitez.
The Spaniard will be hoping the lightning strikes twice. After all, Aarons has worked with the same doctor that nursed Lorenzo Insigne back to health in 2015.
The winger tore his anterior cruciate ligament, an injury that usually consigns a player to the sidelines for nine months. However, Insigne was back in five and, more to the point, returned fitter, stronger and faster than ever.
“We had experience when I was at Napoli,” Benitez told The Chronicle. “I spoke to our doctor and we had two or three different options I had Lorenzo Insigne who had an operation there and he did really well.”
In fact, since the beginning of 2015/16, ‘Maradona’s heir’ has missed just two of a possible 62 Serie A fixtures, netting 20 times to cement his reputation as one of the country’s brightest lights.
Benitez will be praying Aarons can mirror such a remarkable recovery.
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