Nuno Santos injury twist: Sporting star set for earlier return | OneFootball

Nuno Santos continues his recovery and, despite the various timelines for the left-footer’s return to competition, it is expected that the player will be back still in 2025, but most likely only in December. For now, the ‘number 11’ is doing everything he can to step onto the pitch before the start of 2026.

At Alvalade, expectations are high that the Portuguese footballer can be a true ‘winter signing’ for Rui Borges’ team; however, Nuno Santos’ adaptation and return will be handled calmly to avoid greater risks, even if it means delaying the process for a few more weeks. At this moment, at Sporting, the forecast is that the player will return to training in November, reports the newspaper Record.

For now, the 30-year-old Portuguese is approaching one of the most important stages in his recovery. After reintegration, Nuno Santos still faces a phase of many weeks to begin cycles of regaining muscle mass and competitive rhythm.

The Sporting wing-back was injured on October 26, 2024, practically 11 months ago. It’s worth recalling that this is the third time in the player’s career he has suffered a serious injury to his right knee. He had already suffered a rupture of the patellar tendon in that part of the body in 2015, when he played for Benfica, and again in 2018, when he represented Rio Ave.

In 2024/25, wearing the Sporting shirt, Nuno Santos – valued at 9 million euros – made only 10 appearances: seven in Liga Portugal Betclic, two in the Champions League and one in the Portuguese Cup. In the 606 minutes he was on the pitch, the athlete scored one goal (Sturm Graz) and made one assist (Portimonense).

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.