5 football superstars whose injuries are hindering their progress

A footballer who is in a top club that competes in various tournaments plays an average of 50 games in a season. A lot of preparation goes on behind the scenes at a club to keep the player fit and ready for every match. Important factors such as diet and number of training sessions are taken into consideration combined with personal attention given to each player to ensure his fitness levels are maintained.But we have seen on several occasion players with great potential are plagued with constant injury problems despite all the prevention mechanisms. Here are five players who are too good to be spending time the treatment room.

#5 Jack Wilshere - Arsenal

The sad story of Jack Wilshere is proving to be ‘oh so familiar’ for Arsenal fans. The club’s injury problems are well documented in the last seven or eight years. Several players in their team have been out of action for long periods but none more so than Wilshere.

The Young Englishman hasn’t featured yet this season as a result of a hairline fracture in his calf bone. The team have become accustomed to playing without the midfielder with the likes of Ramsey Coquelin and Cazorla now the regulars in the squad.

Since making his debut for the club at the age of 16 he has missed 862 days of football through injury. That is more than two years out of the eight that he has been part of first team. Arsene Wenger was facing an injury crisis in December when he had many of first team midfielders out of action, which forced his hand in the transfer market.

The Arsenal star is still only 24 and has his prime years ahead of him. With Arsenal chasing Leicester in the title race he could still play a vital role in Arsenal’s campaign in the last few months of the season.

#4 Phil Jones - Manchester United

Phil Jones arrived from Blackburn as a promising young defender and was touted to be one of the future stars for England and Manchester United. He had a wonderful debut season for the Red Devils making a total of 41 appearances in the 2011/12 campaign.

But unfortunately for the Englishman he has never made as many appearances or hit that sort of form ever since. In his next season, he missed four months of action after suffering consecutive knee and back injuries. He went on to make only 17 appearances in the league which meant he was first choice when fit.

He had an improved showing in the 13/14 season after making 26 appearances but still missed a third of the games through injury. Jones made only 22 appearances last year once again missing 98 days after being sidelined with hamstring, ankle and shin problems.

This year he has been unavailable for a majority of the season playing only 10 out of 26 games in the Premier League. United have won only 37% of their matches when Jones hasn’t been in the starting lineup compared to a win percentage of 50% with the young defender.

United will have to try to figure a way to keep the 23-year-old fit, with the club already facing a shortage of defenders.

#3 Sergio Aguero - Manchester City

Serio Aguero has been without a doubt the best striker in the Premier League over the past few seasons. His numbers back up how good he has been since his arrival in Manchester. Despite missing seven games through injury this season he has scored 14 times in 18 matches. He is fourth in the list of goalscorers and only 5 behind Jamie Vardy.

The stats don’t stop there. Aguero is currently second in terms of goals to games ratio only behind Theirry Henry in Premier League history. Last year Aguero was top scorer with 26 goals despite playing fewer games than other strikers such as Diego Costa and Harry Kane

But Aguero has had niggling injury problems every season he has played for City. But the Blues have been fortunate enough to have strength in depth whenever he’s been unavailable. The Argentinian is the sort of player who can win games on his own, an ability any title winning side needs.

That ability has been on show in 2015/16. When he’s fit City have won 68% of their matches compared to 57% without him. In crucial clashes against the big teams this year, the club have failed to win a large chunk of them but Aguero has almost always scored in those games.

If City can get their consistency back again and keep Aguero fit for the rest of the campaign then they have a good chance to go all the way.

#2 Daniel Sturridge - Liverpool

In Liverpool’s recent win over Aston Villa Daniel Sturridge showed in 61 short minutes how much they have missed him. The England international has been ravaged with injuries in the last couple of seasons.

Sturridge when on form and firing is one of the best strikers in the Premier League. He has the best goals to minutes ratio of any Liverpool player in their history. The Reds might have been in a better position in the league with that kind of firepower.

This season out of a possible 2340 minutes of game time he has only played 352 minutes! That amounts to 15% of the total possible amount time he could've spent on the pitch.

Last season he missed 26 games through injury in yet another season where Liverpool fell short of their ambition. In that year, they had a win percentage of 66% with him in the side and a win percentage of 38% when he wasn’t playing.

The numbers aren't largely different this year with Liverpool winning 50% of the games he’s played compared to 35% without the striker. Sturridge has suffered various types of injuries ranging from hamstrings to thigh and muscle strains meaning it’s not a case of recurrence.

Liverpool will have to do all they can to keep the 26-year-old fit if they are to have any hope of finishing in the Champions League places this season.

#1 Gareth Bale - Real Madrid

Gareth Bale’s transfer fee still holds the record for the most expensive in the history of football. The winger made his move from Tottenham to Real Madrid in 2013 for €100 million. Bale has always featured when fit. He along with Ronaldo are always the first names on the team sheet

But Bale has had his fair share of injury problems since moving to the Bernabeu. The Welshman has missed eight games in La Liga this term due to several muscular problems. And the frustration for Real Madrid is they are all injuries that keep him out for 4 or 5 games with a high chance of recurrence.

The winger also missed a majority of his first season with the club only playing 27 times. For the amount of money that Real have shelled out, Bale’s injuries are proving costly. Including the salary he is being paid, Bale’s cost per match is close a €1 million.

Bale has shown his match-winning ability on several occasions. He was in fine form this season, when fit and playing. He has scored 15 goals in 2015/16 and has a great partnership with Ronaldo.

With Barcelona slowly pulling away at the top and Champions League having resumed, the matches are coming thick and fast for the captial club and it would really give them a lift if they had one of their star players back in the fold.