Harvey Barnes on the rare toe injury that kept him out last season
Newcastle United winger Harvey Barnes was injured for a large part of last season and missed 27 games due to a rare toe injury that left him feeling frustrated and uncertain. It was not the start he was hoping for after he made the move from Leicester City to the Magpies that summer. ‘’When you come into a new club, you’re always desperate to make a big impression.’’
‘’It was a rare injury,’’ said the 26-year-old in an interview with The Guardian. ‘’There were mixed opinions from specialists. Around 12 weeks after it happened some doctors were saying you need an operation, some were saying you don’t. That can be tough. As a player you want to know for sure; you almost prefer there to be only one solution. This wasn’t one of those injuries. It’s frustrating not knowing the exact length of time you’re going to be out.’’
One week before he got the injury, Barnes also became a dad. ‘’We’d had Harper a week before the toe injury happened, so there was a lot going on at the time. There were a lot of up-and-down times. When you have longer-term injuries you have long days of treatment and then you go home and you almost can’t switch off from it. You’re still icing, you’re still focused on it.’’
‘’In some ways having to switch and concentrate on our daughter was really helpful, but in other ways, it was challenging,’’ reveals the Newcastle United winger. ‘’It was a real sort of turbulent start.’’
Settled
In the end, Barnes didn’t get an operation and is feeling a lot more settled at the start of this season. ‘’My daughter’s a year old, we’re established in the house we’ve bought, all those things that were a challenge are now very settled. It’s probably given me a perspective on the challenges facing players coming here from abroad. I’d been on loans before but never anything as big as moving to Newcastle.’’
Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe has helped Barnes massively as well. ‘’He’s really good with helping you settle,’’ says Barnes. ‘’He really understands the problems players face when they’re changing clubs. He gets a really good understanding of each player’s family situation and he can help you with that. If there are certain things you need, he’ll always be there. He didn’t help me furnish the house but, when we first had Harper, he did have a few good conversations with me about my daughter and the different challenges I was going to face as a dad. He’s been there, he understands.’’
Dit bericht op Instagram bekijken
Gerelateerde artikelen
Van der Vaart: ”It’s really fun to see how much energy everyone gets out of it”
The former professional footballer faces an important week as the tournament director with the Decathlon Premier Padel Rotterdam on the schedule.
Read more
