Aston Villa defender Alex Moreno has revealed that he’s back running as he steps up his recovery from hamstring surgery.
The 30-year-old emerged as an instant hit after his arrival in January from Real Betis, as he produced consistently impressive performances with his defensive work improving coupled with his ability to add a dangerous attacking threat down our left flank.
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He ended the campaign with three assists in 19 appearances, but his season was ended prematurely after he suffered an injury in our penultimate game against Liverpool at Anfield.
Unai Emery later confirmed that he had undergone hamstring surgery and would be sidelined until early August, and while that timeline seems accurate still, Moreno has reached an important landmark in his rehabilitation and comeback.
As seen in the image below, the Spaniard has now started running again on the anti-gravity treadmill having stayed behind at Bodymoor Heath to continue his treatment and training work, with the rest of the squad now in the USA on our pre-season tour.
From initially wearing a protective leg brace to gradually putting in work in the gym to work on his strength and conditioning to stay in shape, this is now a significant step forward for him as he looks to build up his fitness and strengthen his hamstring to be able to get back out on the grass.
With our Premier League season opener set for August 12 at Newcastle United, the expectation is that he will still miss out on that as with three weeks left, he’s still got some way to go to prove he’s ready while Villa won’t take any risks with aggravating the issue and seeing him suffer a late setback.
Nevertheless, this is a big boost for us given how important Moreno is to Emery’s style of play and system, and while Lucas Digne will be a more than capable replacement for him during his time on the sidelines, it was clear in the second half of last season that the Spanish left-back was establishing himself as our first choice.
In addition to our league fixtures, Villa also have a Europa Conference League playoff round to navigate through at the end of August, and so it’s hoped that Moreno will be in contention by then, but this is certainly positive in itself for now.
Let’s go! Alex Moreno stepping up his recovery 💪🏽🟣🔵#avfc #UTV pic.twitter.com/atnQw7K4ao
— Talk Villa (@thetalkvilla) July 22, 2023