Borussia Dortmund injury update: Manuel Akanji back in individual training

Borussia Dortmund defender Manuel Akanji took the next step on his road to recovery as he began training individually on Monday.

Borussia Dortmund have had to deal with a slew of injury problems this season, with several players having to spend time on the sidelines. The Black and Yellows are going through another injury crisis at the moment, and a number of big names were forced to miss Sunday’s 1-1 draw against FC Augsburg.

Marco Reus, Erling Haaland, Dan-Axel Zagadou, Gio Reyna and Thomas Meunier are all sidelined at the moment. But one player who is closing in on his return to action is Manuel Akanji. According to Ruhr Nachrichten, the Swiss centre-back took part in a running session at the club’s training ground on Monday. He did a few laps around the training pitch and gradually increased his pace over the course of the session.

Akanji suffered a torn muscle fibre in his calf during the first-leg of Borussia Dortmund’s UEFA Europa League knockout round playoffs tie against Rangers. Marco Rose announced then that the defender would be sidelined for three weeks. So the hope will be that he can return to action and bolster the BVB defence soon. Akanji said on Saturday that he hopes to make his comeback within the next two to three weeks.

While Akanji is closing in on his return, it remains to be seen how long Reus, Haaland and Zagadou will be out for. But Reyna is targeting a return to action in March, while Meunier could miss the rest of the season with his injury.