with Tottenham after a "one in a million" knee
injury left the club's medical staff baffled as to how
much football he was going to miss.
The Belgium international sustained damage to his
knee in Spurs' 1-1 draw with West Brom on
October 15 after colliding with team-mate
Jan Vertonghen, but initial scans failed to reveal
the extent of the problem, with ligament issues
ruled out.
Eventually it was determined that a nerve in his
knee had "shut down", rendering his leg almost
useless and ultimately ruling him out for almost
two months.
Due to the nature of nerve injuries, Spurs' medical
staff were unable to hypothesise over the length of
his absence, but now he is back on the pitch he
insists he feels even better than before.
"It was an unusual injury, one in a million," he told
Standard Sport. "It almost never happens in
football.
"I got a hard knock on the nerve on the right side
of my knee, so the nerve was shut down. All of my
leg was shut down.
"When that happens, it takes a long time to 'restart'
the nerve again, so it wasn't an injury you could
put a time limit on. If you pull a hamstring, you will
probably be out for four to six weeks. With a nerve,
you don't know.
"My leg didn't work and I had to start all over
again. The nature of the problem also meant that
for a while, my foot didn't work properly, so I had
do as much recovery work as possible without
using my foot.
"I could walk, but not as I normally would, because
it was difficult to lift up my foot. It was difficult for
the medical staff to put a time on my recovery
because we didn't know. It could have been two
weeks, six weeks, maybe three months more.
"We just had to do everything we could to stimulate
the nerve and ensure I could come back as quickly
as possible. It was very frustrating, but I had to use
the frustration to work as hard as possible and be
ready to come back.
"I knew that when the nerve started working
normally again, I had to be able to play as quickly
as possible, and that was my motivation. I feel fit,
even better than I did, and I'm hungry to help the
team.
"It felt good to be back on the pitch
against CSKA Moscow and Manchester United. I
worked hard for it. Sometimes these things can
happen but now I think I am 100 per cent."
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