Injury Diagnosis: Armando Broja

An injury specialist with the breakdown

The terrible news came out today regarding Armando Broja’s long-term knee injury, which was obviously worst case scenario.

We’ve drafted in an injury expert Nero, who runs the Injury Season website. He has a recent article on the Wesley Fofana injury here as well for those interested.

I’ll let the expert speak now:

The nightmare continues for Chelsea as Armando Broja becomes the latest addition to an already long list of casualties, joining the likes of Reece James, Ben Chilwell and Wesley Fofana on the sidelines. The 21-year old is set to miss the rest of the season with an ACL injury suffered in the friendly game against Aston Villa. Friendlies? Yeah right!

What are the events that led to Broja being forced on the sidelines? I will be breaking down all the details of the injury including the video analysis, possibilities, anatomy and expected time out of action. Let's get started.

Observations from the video analysis

Armando Broja went down screaming after clashing with the Villa defender in the 19th minute. Broja's right boot got stuck on the turf and his right knee bent inwards presenting the valgus stress position(as seen in the pic below) which is a concerning mechanism for ACL/MCL/medial meniscus injury.

To understand this, we take a look into the knee joint anatomy where you can see the structures mentioned above. The valgus can present either an isolated injury of the ACL/MCL or injury to the ACL/MCL associated with the meniscus and in severe cases include injury to all of the three structures.

Expected time out

The return timeline from an ACL injury depends on rehabilitation, completing certain milestones and avoiding setbacks. The average RTP (return to play) is around 8-9 months.

Final thoughts

An ACL injury is a player's worst nightmare. Be it in your 20s or 30s, the road to recovery is tough. Armando Broja is, arguably, one of the best forwards to graduate from the academy and seeing him so close to claiming the #9 spot just makes the timing of the injury even worse. We hope he recovers soon and comes back stronger than ever.

Finally, I have seen some reports of Broja returning anywhere from 5 to 12 months. For a player who has undergone surgery for a ruptured ACL, it is highly unlikely we see him back so soon. The ACL reconstruction surgery includes introducing a graft, more likely the patellar tendon graft in place of the torn ligament. The graft requires time to integrate and forcing an early return will just increase the risk of recurrent tear. Don't be surprised to see him back running after 3-4 months, however, the expected RTP remains around 8-9 months at the earliest.

By Nero, Injury Season