'Special technique' - Leeds United star Patrick Bamford's injury, surgery and recovery explained

Bamford isn't in Spain with his team-mates this week as their preparations for the resumption of Premier League action are taken to another level. Instead, he has flown to Munich, Germany, to be operated on by a specialist of world-renown.

Dr Ulrike Muschaweck has been specialising in groin hernias since 1993, the year Bamford was born. Xabi Alonso, Michael Owen, and Ander Herrera are among her previous patients and she has performed more than 27,000 groin surgeries. In 2022 she developed a special technique for treating 'sportsman's groin.'

Found predominantly among top athletes, the condition is a common one and stems from a protrusion of the transverse fascia in the area of the posterior wall of the groin canal. The bulge compresses nerves, leading to pain and discomfort of the kind Bamford felt after recovering from his hip problem.

Twisting actions and excessive strain are what ordinarily bring on the pain for sufferers, which is why footballers are among those most commonly affected. The fix, presented for the first time at Real Madrid's centenary and now a subject of lectures given worldwide, is called 'minimal-repair technique' or the 'Muschaweck-Repair.'

Her principle is to avoid making the defect of the groin canal larger by using a special surgical suturing technique. So with a few stitches, performed today under local anesthesia in combination with sedation, Bamford's recovery should be swift. There are no muscles involved and he will be allowed to start jogging in two days. After five or six he can sprint again.

Football training is permitted a day or two after that and players have previously made their returns to Premier League action well inside two weeks. Muschaweck says that after 14 days a normal load of physical stress is possible and that is what gives Leeds confidence in Bamford being available again for the clash with Manchester City on December 28.