Ferdi Kadioglu has potential season-ending surgery on toe injury
Ferdi Kadioglu has undergone surgery on a toe injury – and it could potentially mean he does not play again for Brighton in the 2024-25 season.
The Turkish international has spent the last nine weeks on the side lines since limping off in the Albion’s 2-1 defeat against Liverpool at the start of November.
It feels like Fabian Hurzeler has said in every press conference since that Kadioglu would be back soon. Only for Kadioglu himself to reveal on Instagram that he has now undergone surgery over two months after suffering the initial injury.
Kadioglu wrote: “Over the past few months, I’ve been working hard to recover from an injury I initially believed would heal quickly.”
“However, despite my efforts and the support of our medical team, the recovery process has taken longer than expected.”
“After thorough evaluations, we have decided that undergoing an operation on January 2 is the best step forward to ensure a complete recovery.”
“While it’s never easy to face such setbacks, I’m fully committed to coming back stronger than ever and help my team by giving everything on the pitch Thank you for your ongoing support during this period.”
With Albion fans wondering how a minor toe problem can lead to nine weeks out and then a decision to operate, WAB have carried out some in-depth research (one hour whilst catching up on New Year’s Day EastEnders) into the problem.
What injury is Ferdi Kadioglu suffering from?
Whilst Brighton have not publicly commented on the specific injury Kadioglu has, his withdrawal from international duty in November was reported in Turkey as being due to a capsule ligament tear in his left big toe joint.
'Ferdi Kadıoğlu was removed from the preliminary squad due to a capsule tear in his left big toe joint.' https://t.co/cckOHhGs0b https://t.co/F7caBXUvzm
— Ben Dinnery (@BenDinnery) November 14, 2024
And in a photo posted on Instagram by Kadioglu after surgery, it is indeed the big toe on his left foot which is bandaged up.
This suggests those reports to have been correct. We can therefore assume that a capsule ligament tear to the joint is the problem. Which naturally leads to the next question…
What is a capsule ligament tear?
Ready for a quickfire GCSE Science lesson? Joints in the body are held together by ligaments and an outer covering known as the joint capsule.
There are several causes for a capsule tear. Trauma is one. More common in professional athletes is a tear occurring through the ligament and capsule being stretched by hyperextension in movements when the toe remains on the ground but the heel lifts.
This specific type of capsule tear is referred to as turf toe. It is a common problem for American Football Players, who frequently use their toes to push off from hard, artificial surfaces.
How long does it take to recover from a toe capsule tear?
Turf toe is usually self-healing through rest and ice treatment. There are also exercises and stretches which can help the toe heal.
The recovery period depends on the severity of the tear. There are three different grades of toe capsule ligament tear.
A grade one turf toe injury can clear up on its own within a week. The time frame for a grade two tear is two to three weeks. A grade three injury is anywhere between four and eight weeks.
If the injury has not healed of its own accord or through physical therapy after six to eight weeks, then surgery becomes an option.
Putting two and two together, we can therefore assume the following has played out:
The injury Kadioglu suffered from was a grade three toe capsule ligament tear. The Albion medical team have tried to avoid surgery by giving Kadioglu the longest possible rest period to recover. Hence why Hurzeler has been saying he could be close to a return.
But after eight weeks rest producing little to no improvement, the decision has been taken to put Kadioglu under the knife.
What is the recovery period after capsule tear surgery?
Here comes the bad news. The recovery period after toe ligament capsule tear surgery is anywhere between four to six months.
Even at the closer end of that scale, it means Kadioglu will probably not be fit until May at the earliest. Making it unlikely we will see him again in a Brighton shirt in the 2024-25 season.
Losing Kadioglu for a significant period of time is just the latest injury blow to impact the £193 million of new signings Brighton made during the summer transfer window.
Matt O’Riley underwent surgery on an ankle injury following a horror tackle less than 10 minutes into his Albion debut against Creepy Crawley in the League Cup back in August.
Brajan Gruda missed the opening two months of the campaign following his £25 million move from Mainz. Yankubu Minteh and Mats Wieffer have also spent month-long periods on the side lines.
The only summer acquisition not to have suffered an injury since joining Brighton is Georginio Rutter. Sorry, we have probably jinxed that now…
