Deki on Bentancur: “I feel strong when I’m with him on the pitch”

Dejan Kulusevski gave an indication of the feeling around the squad on Rodrigo Bentancur’s return to action after the midfielder wore the captain’s armband for our FA Cup third round win against Burnley on Friday night.

‘Lolo’ made a surprise early return from an ankle injury to start against Bournemouth in the Premier League on New Year’s Eve, playing 58 minutes of our 3-1 win. Five days later, he led the team out for the first time, playing 83 minutes as Pedro Porro’s stunner saw us into the draw for the fourth round on Monday evening.

Signed with Deki from Juventus in January, 2022, Rodrigo, still only 26, made a huge impact in his first year at the club until suffering a serious knee injury in February, 2023. That kept him out until late October but just four games into his return, he suffered ankle ligament damage.

We were expecting Rodrigo to be out until February, but he’s back early and looked as good as ever as he ticked onto 50 appearances for us in all competitions against Burnley.

Speaking about Rodrigo on our Review Show from the stadium after the Burnley win, Deki said: “I feel strong when I’m with him on the pitch. It’s a blessing to play with him. He’s my close friend from many years ago. I know how to play with him and I’m sure he will help us even more in the future.”

There was further good news with the return off the bench of Ryan Sessegnon in the second half on Friday, the versatile left-sided player’s first action since February as he’s battled back from hamstring trouble. Micky van de Ven was also back in the matchday squad after his hamstring injury in November.

Deki added: “We’re happy that players are coming back. Micky’s coming back, Sess is back and playing well, the youngsters came in, Dane (Scarlett) is back (from his loan at Ipswich), and we’re happy to have him back.”