Jenson Seelt of Sunderland is breaking past Stoke City's Bae Jun-Ho during the Sky Bet Championship match between Sunderland and Stoke City at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland, on January 27, 2024. (Photo by MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Jenson Seelt has endured a very difficult start to life on Wearside.
The defender arrived at Sunderland from PSV last summer and was forced to wait almost two months before making his debut.
The second half of the season saw Seelt earn more minutes under Mike Dodds and he eventually made eleven starts in the Championship.
However, after four successive starts for the Black Cats, Seelt suffered a major ACL injury and was ruled out for the rest of the season back in March.
The club confirmed he would miss six to nine months of action, meaning he may not return to Championship football until the end of the year or even the start of next year.
The 21-year-old has still travelled to Spain for Sunderland’s pre-season training camp though, as he continues his rehabilitation away from the rest of the senior group.
Jenson Seelt issues injury update ahead of potential 2025 return
Seelt has now issued an update on his recovery and has admitted the club are ‘satisfied’ with his progress.
Speaking to the club, he said: “Yeah it’s a long process for me, to be honest. It’s going well at the moment. It’s an injury with the ups and downs and you wake up and you have pain on the inside of your knee and then the other day it’s the outside of the knee and you’re asking questions, how is it possible?
“But yeah, it was obviously a big surgery so it’s not weird that you’re feeling several things, but the most important thing is that you’re making progress week by week. Yeah, the physios are really satisfied with my progression and yeah, just have to take it how it is and try to come back as soon as possible.”
The defender’s chances at Sunderland are far from up
It is incredibly frustrating for both Seelt, the club and the fans to see him sidelined for so long, given that he had finally looked to be forcing his way into the starting line-up.
