Angelo Ogbonna hopeful of returning from injury before end of season for West Ham

Angelo Ogbonna is hopeful of returning for West Ham before the end of the season after suffering a major knee injury earlier in the season.

The Italian centre-back suffered a cruciate knee ligament injury in November against Liverpool and was expected to miss the remainder of the season.

But in an interview Sky Italia, via Gianluca Di Marzio, Ogbonna revealed that his recovery process is going well and he’s hopeful of playing again sooner rather than later.

West Ham

“The recovery is going very well,” he said.

“I’m fine, we are in line with the rehabilitation process, and therefore I hope that before the end of the season I can still give my mark.”

Ogbonna isn’t believed to be close to a return, but there are still a maximum of 12 games to play this season so it’s impossible to rule it out.

Bonus

The club have absolutely no expectation that Ogbonna will be available for selection again this season, but if he were to make his return it would be a huge bonus for the team.

David Moyes has been forced to have just three centre-back options this season with Kurt Zouma, Craig Dawson and Issa Diop his only senior options since the injury.

West Ham

An extra option will be ideal, especially if they manage to progress beyond the quarter-finals of the Europa League while they’re still competing for a top four spot.

Ogbonna’s Hammers contract is due to expire this season and there has been no news on whether it will be extended or not currently, so it could be a chance for him to say goodbye too.

Either way it would be a big surprise to see the 34-year-old return before the end of the season, but also to get back to the level he was performing at before his injury.

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