Leverkusen fast track Baumgartlinger for return to action
Less than four months after his ACL surgery, Bayer 04 Leverkusen have midfield general Julian Baumgartlinger on the fast-track for a return before the season concludes.
| Julian Baumgartlinger. | Photo: Bayer 04 Leverkusen |
The 33-year-old's recovery from knee surgery to stabilize his ACL nevertheless appears to have kept apace with the rosier prognostications. After Baumgartlinger passes several hard running exercises, the coaching staff announced on Wednesday that the player had been scheduled for an advanced rehab camp on May 12th.
Illustrative of what a good position this places the Austrian deep-six-specialist in, the likes of Timothy Fosu-Mensah and Santiago Arias have not been assigned to this training stage yet. Assuming there are no further setbacks, Leverkusen's linchpin could be back in the lineup for the season finale on May 22nd.
The welcome news serves not only to bolster the Bundesliga club, but will surely also affect Austria national team head-coach Franco Foda's selection for the upcoming Euros, Baumgartlinger has donned the captain's armband for his country in 82 caps for the ÖFB.
