Unable to secure himself a spot in Brighton & Hove Albion’s first-team, Kjell Scherpen was sent out on loan first to KV Oostende, then to Vitesse and eventually, this season to Sturm Graz in Austria.
He became their starting goalkeeper immediately, but had to stop recently to undergo surgery on a cruciate ligament tear that he had been playing through for some time.
The Brighton loanee spoke to Het Laatste Nieuws about his situation, and how the belief was that, despite being able to continue, surgery was the best option for his career going forward.
He explained that he first felt the pain in his knee during training, which was quickly checked by doctors and physios, who noticed a ‘stiff knee with some fluid’.
Despite that, he was able to play through the next game, with scans taking place the next week that ‘did not bring good news’.
However, the fact that he had managed to play the last match without an issue meant that he ‘didn’t panic’, but then a ‘strange situation arose’.
He visited many specialists, even returning to England to see Andy Williams, a knee expert who see a lot of Premier League players, who noticed that his knee ‘no longer looked perfect on the inside and that sooner or later’, there would be a need for surgery.
They waited until December, which Williams called a ‘calculated risk’.
Still, the Brighton loanee wanted to continue playing, trained the rest of his legs ‘like crazy’ to help compensate in hope of finishing the season, with scans ‘every three weeks’.
Ultimately, though, after talks with Sturm Graz, Brighton, his family and his agent, the choice was made to operate and avoid ‘further risks’ that could put his career in jeopardy.
He explains that his ligament didn’t tear at once, and did so more in stages, which allowed him to keep on playing, perhaps even being lucky because of his ‘height and athleticism’, meaning that his muscles helped out.
Currently recovering in Amsterdam, the goalkeeper reveals that Brighton and Sturm Graz are currently in talks for him to have another go at the loan next season, meaning he will stay in Austria next year, having recently extended his contract with the Seagulls until 2027.
