Toon star Florian Lejeune posted a great image on his Instagram account of him running on a treadmill this week, pointing to a return to action ahead of schedule.
Lejeune was one of the standout players during our 10th place finish last season, with his partnership with Jamaal Lascelles going from strength to strength.
The French central defender thrived following his switch from Eibar in 2017 but manager Rafa Benitez was dealt a blow on the eve of this season after Lejuene damaged cruciate ligaments, seemingly ruling him out for most, if not all, of the 18/19 season.
However we can see from the image below that he is now running just a month after the operation – a great sign and a clear indication that we might see Lejeune back on the pitch earlier than we thought:
Rafa brought in Schar as cover for our first choice central defensive pair and the injury to Lejuene has been helped by the good form of another arrival, Fernandez.
Make no mistake though, this is good news and if he can return in the first few months of 2019, it would be a welcome boost for our run in.