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Former Tottenham defender Jan Vertonghen has revealed that he played with concussion symptoms for nine months while fighting for a new contract.
Vertonghen was injured in the Spurs Champions League semi-final first leg against Ajax in 2019 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium after butting heads with his teammate Toby Alderweireld.
The defender was allowed to return to the game after prolonged checks by the Spurs medical team at the touchline, but when he realized his symptoms were too severe to continue, Vertonghen quickly signaled to the bench to remove him.
Vertonghen was involved in a sick collision with Ajax goalkeeper Andre Onana and his teammate Toby Alderweireld
Vertonghen received treatment while being evaluated by Spurs medical staff
Vertonghen collapsed moments after returning to the field and was later helped by Mauricio Pochettino and medical staff.
Vertonghen, who left Spurs at the end of last season to join Benfica after failing to reach a new deal, told the Belgian outlet Sporza the effects of the injury led him to lose his place in the team.
“Many people don’t know this, but [the head injury against Ajax] it affected me for a long time. He had dizziness and headaches, “he said.” The other day, there was the story of David Luiz and [Raul] Jiménez, in which Jiménez suffered a skull fracture.
“With me, it was my nose and I kept playing, which I shouldn’t have, according to the doctors. In the end, I think I suffered that head injury for about eight or nine months. That was the reason why I didn’t play well.
“I had a year left on my contract and I thought I had to play because I had to show myself to other clubs and Tottenham, but when I played, I was rubbish. I just couldn’t produce a good performance. Not many people knew about it.
“That was my own choice and not a criticism from anyone else. After five months, there was a day when I started to feel better. When I look at the pictures from that moment, I know when it didn’t feel right to look at myself.
“I think it was in January that I really didn’t know what to do. Game after game, training session after training session, there was more impact. Then there was the blocking, so I didn’t do anything for two months and then it was better.”
Sky Sports News he has reached out to the Spurs for an answer.
PL to discuss the implementation of surrogates for concussion
The Premier League is scheduled to discuss the implementation of concussion substitutes this week, while a move from three substitutes to five is also expected to be on the agenda again for the 2020/21 season.
Representatives from the 20 clubs will attend a shareholders meeting, where they will discuss the results and findings of the International Football Association (IFAB) Board meeting on Wednesday.
The IFAB technical panel, which is responsible for the laws of the game, has proposed allowing clubs to temporarily replace a player suspected of suffering a concussion.
If the IFAB supports its technical panel’s suggestion, then Premier League clubs could put forward proposals to implement concussion substitutes.
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