Surgery for Mitea: out for up to nine months
18 August: Ajax will have to miss out on Nicolae Mitea
for at least six, possibly nine months. The Romanian
sustained a knee injury on 31 July in Ajax's friendly
fixture against
Boca Juniors during the Amsterdam Tournament. Ajax
initially announced that the left winger would need some four
weeks to recover, but it now appears that surgery is
required.
Mitea sustained the injury in the 65th minute of Ajax vs
Boca Juniors: the cruciate ligament of his right knee was hit,
but Ajax had good hopes that four weeks of
rest would be enough. However, the
ligament remained unstable and now appears to be so
seriously damaged that Mitea will have to go under the knife.
It will cost him the large part of the upcoming Eredivisie
season.
Nicolae Mitea (born Bucharest, Romania, 24 March 1984)
joined Ajax on
01 August 2003. The lightning-quick teenager of Dinamo
Bucharest signed a two year deal until the summer of 2005,
which also included the option for Ajax to extend it until the
summer of 2007. Ajax decided to do so on
13 April 2004. His renewed and improved deal was Mitea's
reward for a spectacularly good first season: the left winger,
19 years old at the time, had 23 Eredivisie appearances for
Ajax in which he netted no less than 7 times.
It is not the first time for Mitea to undergo surgery:
shortly after his contract renewal, on 15
May 2004 to be precise, he went under the knife
due to a persistent groin injury. He recovered during the
summer break and returned to action in August 2004, but -
like so many other Ajacieden - Mitea had a rather disappointing
2004-2005 season. In total Mitea, now 21 years old, appeared in
44 Eredivisie matches (9 goals), 6 Amstel Cup and 10 Champions
League games for Ajax. As an Ajacied he also made his
début for the Romanian national team. (MP)
Source: Ajax.nl
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