Earlier this week, Bournemouth announced that Justin Kluivert will be out for the foreseeable future due to a knee injury.
After leaving the pitch during the Cherries’ 3-2 loss to Arsenal, the attacker underwent surgery.
While some presumed that the Dutchman picked up an ACL injury, the exact details were never leaked. Bournemouth are keeping cards close to their chest and it seems like Kluivert too has been instructed to do that.
The 26-year-old spoke to De Telegraaf in a detailed interview and was asked about the moment it happened.
Kluivert: “I felt something was wrong when I landed wrong. I tried to keep playing afterward, but my knee didn’t feel the same as usual.”
When asked to provide further details, the ex-Roma man said: “Fortunately not a cruciate ligament injury. Nobody needs to know exactly what the damage was. But I was in good hands during the procedure, and according to the doctor, the operation went very well.”
The topic then changed to Kluivert’s hopes of playing the World Cup later this year.
“I definitely spoke to the national coach. After I sustained the injury, I informed him. The coach also hopes for a speedy recovery for me, so that I can hopefully still be available for the club this season. That’s what I’m going to fight for.”
The Bournemouth remains hopeful of returning soon, making it clear that he always recovers well.
“But I’ll come out stronger here too. One of the goals I’ve set for myself is the World Cup. And that’s what I’m going for. I know my body. And it always recovers well. Still, I don’t want to focus too much on the World Cup. A good recovery is the most important thing now. And if that rehabilitation goes well, then the World Cup will be achievable.”
Bournemouth player restricted on what he says
Bournemouth are being careful about keeping details of the injury private. De Telegraaf state that aside from confirming it’s not a cruciate injury ‘Kluivert can’t and isn’t allowed to say anything more than that ‘.
His loss is likely to impact Bournemouth significantly. He has only two Premier League goals but he has usually started matches, with Andoni Iraola’s side themselves struggling for form.
The Cherries will hope he returns to action soon and more importantly, there is no long-term damage to the knee.