When Nnamdi Ofoborh posted a series of pictures on Instagram, the much-maligned Rangers medical department became an instant target once again for fans who hold them accountable for the injury crisis that we have experienced over the last year.
Having covered the 24-year old’s frustrations at the time, Vital Rangers opinion was that he was venting at the advice he had been given by third parties given that there is unlikely to be a team of cardiologists operating out of Auchenhowie.
Clearing up the rumours, Michael Beale has revealed that there is no issue between the player and the club and that Ofoborh is now under the treatment of a third specialist, as reported by The Rangers Review:
“He has been away to see the best cardiologist we could find, he’s had two opinions, we are now supporting him to get a third opinion as well.
“It’s fair to say that those opinions have not always been perfect, so he’s managed to get back into light training but our advice for the club from the specialists is just light training at this moment in time – that me, you, anyone could do and nothing more than that.
“That’s where we are at. Nnamdi is a boy that I am close to and I really feel for his situation. He’s a young man that has had his whole life turned upside down in the last two years and he’s finding it really difficult with the feedback that he has been getting.
“But he’s away to see a third specialist now and the club is supporting him on that. The club has been fantastic in their support for him the whole way through the two years. It’s just a really difficult situation.
“I’m certainly not an expert on it, I’m just trying to support the young boy through what you can imagine is a really, really difficult period for him.”
Sadly, and this is just my opinion, it looks as though Ofoborh has been told that he won’t be able to play again and that he is, understandably, looking to exhaust all avenues before giving up on his dream. After all, he has been seen by the same surgeons that worked with Daley Blind and Christian Eriksen to get them back to full health and playing at the highest level again, they know what they are doing.
If, after seeing two of the best specialists that money can buy, he is still only allowed to carry out light exercise, I’m not entirely sure what a third will tell him. Ofoborh has had two operations already and it now looks as though quality of life will take precendant over a return to professional sport.
As Beale says, the club will continue to do everything possible to help the former Nigeria youth international and even if he spends the next two years of his contract fighting to get fit, we should endeavour to help him as much as possible – if the worst comes to the worst, regardless of how many minutes he has played for the club, we need to give him all the tools necessary to take the next step on a life that will be entirely different to the one he envisaged when he signed for us in 2021.