Lorenzo Insigne nears return with "miraculous" recovery

It's been too long since we've seen the joy of Lorenzo Insigne out on the pitch in a Napoli shirt. It's been four months since he tore his ACL playing against Fiorentina, and in those four months he's been missed badly. His energy, his talent, his enthusiasm, all have been felt keenly in his absence.

According to his agent, though, Insigne might not be gone for much longer.

His surgeon, Prof. Mariani, said that Insigne's knee looks like it never underwent surgery at all. Even the muscle tone in the leg was not reduced. After today's visit, I'm certain we'll see him on the pitch with his teammates very soon.

He trained twice a week, as part of a recovery program that never stopped, not even for Christmas. His recovery borders on being incredible, really. It's been a mere three months and twenty days since the injury, and Lorenzo proved over this time how keen he was on wearing these colors and playing with his team.

-Source: Radio Kiss Kiss via Football Italia

It's fantastic news to hear that Insigne is recovering so well, and the club seems to agree with his agent's assessment. The club confirmed today that Insigne visited with Professor Mariani to get an MRI and see how his knee is holding up, and the surgeon cleared Insigne to return to training with the club.

It's a shockingly fast recovery, even in the light of much-improved surgical procedures for ACL tears in recent years. It did sound at the time that it was a fairly "clean" tear -- meaning an easy-to-repair tear with little collateral damage in the knee -- which helps the timetable, but there's still lingering concern that this process is being rushed, potentially to Insigne's detriment.

Still, it will be great to see Lorenzo on the pitch again. He's been much missed, and when he makes that triumphant return to the San Paolo, the crowd's roar will be incredible.