5 players who got injured soon after they joined their new club

Injuries are devastating so quickly after a move for a player. If the injury is bad enough, the player could return to a completely new manager at the helm who may favour a different player in their position.

This season, Ousmane Dembele, shortly after joining Barcelona, suffered a ruptured thigh which has already kept him on the sidelines for two months. However, he is not the only player to get injured so soon after joining a new club.

Here are 5 players who got injured quickly after joining a new club:

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#5 Radamel Falcao

Radamel Falcao was one of the best and most sought out strikers in Europe after four wonderful years at both Porto and Atletico Madrid. And it was Monaco, one of the richest clubs in Europe at the time, who would snap up the Colombian from Atletico.

Although his time at Monaco has ended up giving him some of the best moments of his widely successful career, it didn’t get off to the best of starts.

Well, it got off to a good start originally, with Falcao scoring nine goals in his first 17 games for the club, mainly in the build-up to Christmas, where his team had also made a good start to the season. However, that was all until disaster struck.

The 2013/14 season was a World Cup year, and his Colombia side were heading to Brazil that summer, and he was expected to be a pivotal part of the squad. Falcao would have been eager to showcase his talent to millions and potentially help Colombia get to a critical stage of the tournament.

But, he did not make the World Cup. Shortly after Christmas in January, coming off injured in a Coupe De France match, Falcao would be told he had a severe anterior cruciate ligament injury that would end his season and also keep him out of the 2014 World Cup. It was heartbreak for the Colombian.

#4 Danny Ings

Ings has suffered two long-term injuries since joining Liverpool

Danny Ings was never going to be a star striker at Liverpool. The Englishman is a talented player, but he was purchased as a backup striker to Daniel Sturridge or Christian Benteke.

Unfortunately, he has not even had the chance to do that.

Ings had two very successful seasons at Burnley as he played a crucial role in them securing promotion, before also scoring 11 goals in the Premier League, which is a very strong tally for a club who were eventually relegated.

His form at Burnley is what convinced manager Brendan Rodgers to then sign him. He began to bring that form to Merseyside too, scoring against both Norwich and Everton at the end of September and beginning of October.

However, Rodgers was sacked, and he now had to impress the new, highly rated manager Jurgen Klopp. But, in his first session with the German boss, Ings would suffer a devastating blow to his career at a new club.

He injured his left knee in that first training session, and would find out after a scan it was an anterior cruciate ligament injury that would keep him out for the season. It was a horrible long-term injury to suffer so soon after joining a new club, and so quickly after getting a new manager.

#3 Arjen Robben

Robin moved to Chelsea in July 2004 but did not make his Premier League debut until November

Probably one of the fastest injuries picked up after moving to a new club occurred when Arjen Robben first moved to Chelsea way back in 2004.

Having already played for four years in the Eredivisie, Chelsea decided to take a risk and sign 20-year-old Arjen Robben. He was an extremely talented footballer, and although he never quite acclimatised to the rough and tumble of the Premier League, the Dutchman has had a hugely successful career with Real Madrid and still to this day, Bayern Munich.

As mentioned, Robben never particularly liked the tough tackling Premier League, but the then 20-year-old didn’t even reach a Premier League game before gaining his first injury with the Blues.

In a pre-season friendly against Roma, he broke his metatarsal that would keep him out until November, missing Chelsea’s first 11 games of the season. Crazily enough, the injury might not have seemed so bad when Robben, during the time of the injury, discovered an unfamiliar growth on one of his testicles, which he told the club doctors about. Fortunately, he was given the all-clear.

Robben has been known to be rather injury prone, through no fault of his own, but they have kept him on the sidelines for a significant amount of his career. However, to get a broken metatarsal in a pre-season friendly was sheer bad luck for the Dutchman.

#2 Ilkay Gundogan

Gundogan had just scored a brace against Barcelona when a knee injury ruled him out for nine months

Ikay Gundogan was always considered to be a wonderful footballer at Borussia Dortmund, but many people were unsure of where he would go if he was to leave the German club. That was until Pep Guardiola came calling.

Having just taken charge at Manchester City, Guardiola was starting to stamp his authority at the club and buy players that suited his philosophy. One of those players who he purchased in his first transfer window was Gundogan, at a bargain price of around £20 million.

And despite City’s other midfield talent in Fernandinho, David Silva, Kevin De Bruyne and Yaya Toure, the German established his central midfield spot rather quickly. To add to that, he scored five goals in all competitions by December, including two against Barcelona at the Etihad, firmly silencing those who suggested he was not good enough.

However, disaster struck in December, just a few months after joining City, when he felt a problem in his left knee against Watford. He was substituted with what was to believed to be ligament damage, and the initial thoughts were correct, but they just didn’t know how bad the damage was.

Gundogan tore his cruciate ligaments in his right knee, and only made a return to the first team after nine months out in mid-September. The injury was devastating for the 27-year-old. Luckily for him, it wasn’t in a World Cup year.

#1 Benjamin Mendy

Mendy only played four Premier League games before rupturing the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee

It was widely criticised this summer by fans and pundits that Guardiola had spent over £120 million on three different fullbacks, with one of those being Benjamin Mendy.

Those scrutinising Guardiola for his purchases soon kept quiet though, once they realised how crucial they were to his play this season.

Mendy is so pivotal to City’s play, Guardiola has said he will not play him and Sane together. And anyone who can keep Sane out of the team, which Mendy was doing earlier on in the season, must be a world class player.

He would not keep Sane out of team for long, but through no fault of his own. On his full debut, City would only win against Bournemouth in injury time, but after that, Mendy’s inclusion clearly had a massive impact. City thrashed Liverpool 5-0, Feyenoord 4-0, Watford 6-0 and Palace 5-0, all with Mendy in the starting 11.

But, the good times would not last, as in that final appearance against Palace, he would get an injury that would keep him out for a long period. In a tackle with Andros Townsend, the Frenchman ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee.

He underwent surgery at the end of September, but there is still no real timeframe on when he will return to training, and more importantly, the Manchester City starting 11.