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Well, the first step towards recovery has happened. More than a week after we first heard about Christian Benteke's ruptured achilles tendon, he has undergone a successful surgery:
Christian Benteke finally underwent surgery on his damaged achilles tendon. Operation went well, I'm told. #AVFC
— Kristof Terreur (@HLNinEngeland) April 14, 2014
Now we begin the process of waiting for the Belgian to rehab that tendon as he works his way to being fit for club play. He will, of course, be missing the World Cup this summer, and we've heard that the expected recovery time is around six months. That would mean a mid-October return, but as we've seen with Charles N'Zogbia, achilles injuries are pretty finicky.
Regardless of when he returns, it seems safe to say that Aston Villa will not have Benteke at 100% until at least the second half of the season, which means that the team will have to find a way to cope without the best striker they've had in some years until then. The last couple of matches have proven that coping may not be an easy task for Villa.
The most important question now is what will the club do in the meantime? After the injury broke, I took a look at what impact the injury might have on Villa's transfer dealings this summer.
I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say that we wish Christian the speediest of recoveries.
