'How will my knee hold up?' - Arsenal Women star Vivianne Miedema admits to doubts as she closes in on 'scary' return from ACL injury

The 27-year-old forward damaged ACL knee ligaments during a Champions League outing for Arsenal against Lyon in December 2022. She has been stuck on the sidelines ever since, with a long road to recovery taken in.

Miedema was forced to sit out the 2023 Women’s World Cup as a result of her injury, but is finally seeing light at the end of dark fitness tunnel. She has told Algemeen Dagblad or her imminent return to action and the thoughts swirling around in her head: “After months of rehabilitation after my serious knee injury, I am now training with the selection at Arsenal again. On Friday, I can really do everything again. That is of course very nice after all the blood, sweat and tears of the past period. But somehow, it’s also scary. How will my knee hold up? How will things go during the matches? That is exciting. I will first start playing for Arsenal’s second team to gain some rhythm.”

Arsenal will not be rushing Miedema back into the fold, in a bid to avoid any setbacks, and the prolific striker is prepared to progress with caution. She added: “I kept in very good contact with national coach Andries Jonker during my injury. Maybe I’ll be in the selection again, but it is too early to decide on that now. In the last weeks of such a difficult recovery, things can go either way. In any case, I don’t want to take any risks after all these months of hard work. I want to be at my best before I start again.”

Arsenal are due to open their 2023-24 WSL campaign at home to Liverpool on October 1, but they will not have Champions League football on the agenda this season after suffering a shock penalty shootout defeat to Paris FC in the first qualifying round.