UCD and Ireland U21 international striker Colm Whelan has seen his season ended early by a cruciate knee ligament injury.
The injury is thought to put Whelan out for six to nine months, which is terrible news for the students’ survival chances in the Premier Division.
Furthermore, Whelan was the apple of many teams eyes for a potential summer transfer, among which included were league leaders Shamrock Rovers as well as League One outfit Lincoln City.
The injury makes any move this summer unlikely. He’ll also be unavailable for any of Jim Crawford’s squads in the upcoming U21 European Championship qualifiers.
Whelan was stretchered off in the 61st minute in UCD’s first win of the season Friday night against Finn Harps. Clearly, the win came at a cost.
UCD manager Andy Meyler told Mirror Sport “it’s terrible timing for Collie with the Under-21s coming up and the possibility of moves in the summer.”
“We just need to get him back right, get him back on the horse and get his rehab done and get him as strong as we can get him.”
“Cruciates are not what they used to be. You can come back from them the same player.
“There is never a good time to get injured, but there is a bad time and this is probably a bad time for him.”
“We’re not thinking about ourselves here. We wanted what’s best for Collie and moving on is probably what’s best for him at this stage of his career and his development.
“But all this will do is put a small delay on that. It won’t hold it up too much, but it’s a delay nonetheless.”
