Mamelodi Sundowns forward Abubeker Nasir has struggled to settle at the club due to injuries as his long period out bewildered the supporters and the reason for the Ethiopian's lengthy spell on the sidelines has been revealed.
Nasir showed big potential in his first few games in his first season at the Brazilians, in the 2023/24 campaign, as he scored two goals in three league appearances, notably in a 4-0 win over Kaizer Chiefs.
However, the Ethiopian got injured in that game and on his return scored again against SuperSport United. But he suffered an injury following that match and only returned in another big game against Orlando Pirates on 30 December 2022.
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The 23-year-old's misfortune with injuries got worse in that game, as he suffered a horrible tackle from Pirates goalkeeper Siyabonga Mpontshane, who got under him challenging for the ball and TV replays showed his knee twisting.
Nasir was not the same since that tackle, as although he returned towards the end of the season, the injury recurred and he missed Sundowns' pre-season ahead of the 2023/24 season.
The Ethiopian sensation only came back recently in early December in a 1-0 win over AmaZulu, in a one-minute cameo off the bench and Sundowns team doctor Dr. Carl Tabane has revealed the extent of that freak accident with Mpontshane.
"If you remember the video quite well, that was a very bad tackle, obviously he injured his ankle and knee at the same time," Tabane revealed on The Pitchside Podcast published on the club's YouTube Channel.
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"Almost all his ankle ligaments were torn, people are not aware of this.
"Obviously we don't go into further details, we just say it's an ankle injury.
"He also suffered a knee injury and so now you have two injuries to manage and so obviously it affects the whole biomechanics of the leg.
"It was quite an unfortunate one, he tore all his lateral ligaments, some of the medium ligaments of the ankle and some of the knee ligaments, so unfortunately it took time, there's absolutely nothing wrong with the boy, he just had a very bad injury and it affected a lot of biomechanics, after he healed from the ankle and the knee, it affected the quads and he suffered a quad injury, I'm happy to say he's quiet okay," he added.
After making his first start against Spurs in a 3-0 win in the subsequent game after Usuthu, Nasir did not feature in the match-day squad in the last two matches of the year against Cape Town City and Polokwane City.
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