Wilfred Ndidi will not be making a speedy Leicester City return with manager Enzo Maresca revealing the midfielder’s optimistic recovery timeframe was a moment of miscommunication.
The Nigerian told Sky Sports that he would be playing again in a “couple of weeks”, way ahead of the initial comeback schedule outlined by Maresca in December.
Ndidi said, “The injury’s alright, I’m getting there. It’s two weeks post surgery.
“Hopefully in a couple of weeks, I’ll be back.” Asked if that was a couple of weeks until he was training or playing, he replied, “A couple of weeks to play.”
After surgery on a muscle, Ndidi was ruled out for three months, until early April and according to Maresca, that remains the timeline for the Nigerian. He’s not going to be playing anytime soon.
“No it’s not correct,” Maresca said of Ndidi’s comments during his press conference on Friday.
“He didn’t understand ‘couple of weeks’, that it means two weeks. It’s not weeks.
“It’s as we said at the beginning, it’s three months, and nothing has changed. But he didn’t understand that couple means two, so this is why he said it.”
The Nigerian will be one of five players missing for City when they take on Birmingham in the FA Cup fourth round on Saturday afternoon. Abdul Fatawu is suspended, Harry Souttar and Kelechi Iheanacho are on international duty, and Patson Daka is not yet back.
