Injured with his Achilles tendon for almost two years, Presnel Kimpembe is trying to come back with PSG. But the length of his absence raises questions at all levels. In the middle of a nightmare, the Frenchman is now considering the worst.
Miroslav Lelas/PIXSELL, CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
On the evening of November 1, 2022, Presnel Kimpembe is far from imagining that his pain in his Achilles tendon will perhaps cost him his career. And yet, it is this injury that has kept him away from the football fields for two years now. A first minor alert in November, a first hard blow during the winter of 2023 and 87 days of absence before falling definitively on February 26, 2023 with a total rupture of this famous tendon…
Kimpembe fights like a soldier
His convalescence was interminable. And his return, postponed many times, is long overdue. If Presnel Kimpembe has resumed with Luis Enrique's group, he has not yet played a single minute of play. Deemed too fragile and not yet sharp enough to take a place in the squad, the world champion is fighting, as a soldier. But this fight seems too big to fight.
End of career?
Presnel Kimpembe will turn 30 last summer. And after two years without competition, the concern is legitimate. The question is no longer whether he will one day return to his level, but whether he will one day manage to return to the football field for a long time? His endless nightmare could end with a forced retirement. PSG is, in any case, starting to consider a separation. As a reminder, Presnel Kimpembe is under contract until June 2026.
