Fletcher waits anxiously to see if he can ever return to professional football.
Manchester United midfielder Darren Fletcher has undergone a third operation to combat his bowel condition ulcerative colitis, which will decide his professional future in football.
The Scotsman was diagnosed with the debilitating illness in late 2011 and has played just 10 matches for the club since November 22 of the same year.
Fletcher has had three bouts of surgery in 2013 to battle against the condition and now begins the rehabilitation process to see if he can recover enough to return to United.
“It’s been a hard time the last couple of years dealing with something like this. As a professional footballer all you want to do is play, but that’s not been possible for me,” the 29-year-old was quoted in the Mirror.
“But if the operation is a success I’ve been told there should be nothing to stop me being cleared to play again.”
Fletcher had been a stalwart under previous manager Sir Alex Ferguson since the 2003/04 campaign, playing 295 matches for the Red Devils in all competitions and the midfielder was mentioned by name in the legendary boss’ retirement speech at the end of last season.
It’s believed that new boss David Moyes is also a big fan of the Scotland international and has spoken to the player personally since taking over at United officially last week.
The continued absence of Fletcher over the past two years gave Ferguson a selection headache in midfield, with Michael Carrick the only man to have truly impressed in the centre of the pitch during that time.
This has been further exacerbated by the retirement of Paul Scholes and Moyes will be hoping the former Scotland captain does make a swift recovery.
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