Unlucky Meritan Shabani is eager to make up for his Wolves lost time

His Wolves career has been plagued by one of the worst injuries an athlete can face – with two anterior cruciate ligament injuries to his knee in just three years at Molineux.

Arriving from Bayern Munich in the summer of 2019, there was plenty of promise for a player who had made two senior appearances for the German giants.

But in September of the same year, on his senior debut for Wolves against Reading in the Carabao Cup, he suffered his first major injury.

After missing the rest of the season he fought his way back to full fitness and enjoyed an impressive first half of the 2020/21 season with the under-23s, before joining Dutch top-flight side VVV-Venlo on-loan.

Shabani made five appearances and then suffered another ACL blow. He returned towards the end of last season and made a handful of under-23 appearances, but has ultimately lost two years of his career at a crucial stage.

“It’s not easy to go through them,” he told the Express & Star.

“But as soon as go through the rehab and get back to playing, it’s just as normal as it was before.

“You still have to be a bit aware, but it comes with games.

“I feel sorry, of course. It’s sad (to be injured).

“You work hard and then out of nowhere you’re out for such a long time, but it just makes you stronger.

“You want to do more and it makes you stronger, coming back quicker and stronger. I feel good. It feels amazing (to be back).”

Shabani is not alone in his injury nightmare, as Wolves team-mate Jonny Castro Otto also suffered back-to-back ACL injuries in quick succession.

The German has been able to use Jonny as a crutch and credits his senior team-mate – and the Wolves medical staff – for helping him return. He added: “We did quite a few things together and we’ve always been in touch, checking on how the other is doing.

“It’s brilliant. He’s doing good and I’m nearly fully fit and back.

“I would say it was about 90 per cent (the medical department), they did absolutely great.

“Wolves is a great team and especially the second time (with this injury) it’s hard for the mind but the medical team was awesome to be honest.

“They helped me through everything, whether it’s physical or mental. They’ve been world class to be honest.”

As a result of his painfully unlucky spell at Wolves, Shabani has recently been training with feeder club Grasshoppers, with a loan to the Swiss club likely.

He only has one year left on his Wolves deal and may never get the opportunity to play for the club again, but Shabani has a surprising affinity with the supporters.

Arriving from a club like Bayern Munich, fans instantly latched on to Shabani as the next rising star.

He has showed plenty of talent and promise, too, in his limited minutes in a Wolves shirt.

The fans, however, have always given him the backing to succeed in gold and black and for that Shabani is grateful.

“I’m always glad when fans ask about me. It’s a good feeling,” he said.

“The main goal is to get fit, get game minutes and get my fitness back. What happens next season, we will see. I haven’t thought about it to be honest, my main goal is to get as many minutes as I can.

“The first and main goal is to get slowly fit for pre-season and then we’ll see what happens.”