Marco van Ginkel has revealed his career was almost over following a knee infection that forced him to miss nearly three years of action.
The Holland international went under the knife in 2018 in a bid to repair an anterior cruciate ligament injury.
However, an infection caused serious complications and the Chelsea star had to go under the knife three times in six days to save his knee.
Three further operations followed, with the 28-year-old finally making his return last month in his native Holland where he is on loan with PSV Eindhoven - 983 days after his previous appearance.
Relieved to be back on the pitch, Van Ginkel has revealed just how close he came to waving his career goodbye.
'The danger was there that I would lose my career, of course,' Van Ginkel told Goal. 'Especially after the first week of infection, they didn't know what the infection was doing inside the joint.
'After three months I reacted well, but it was going to be a tough, tough time to be at the top level again, to come back and play for PSV, Chelsea or whoever. At that moment, it was more about whether I could walk again. Football didn't matter.
'The infection that came six weeks after my operation killed my knee a bit. That's why it took so long, it damaged my knee and cruciate and I had to be operated on all over again. It was a very hard time'
Van Ginkel is still under contract with Chelsea, having been handed an extension last summer, which runs out this June.
He has played twice more for PSV since making his return, both times off of the bench.
