Sunderland forward Duncan Watmore is facing yet another prolonged spell on the sidelines after rupturing his second anterior cruciate ligament in the space of 10 months.
Having missed the previous eight months, Watmore succumbed to injury yet again just six games into his comeback, the 23-year-old lasting just 42 minutes of the Black Cats’ draw against Millwall on 18th November before suffering an identical knee injury.
However, facing major surgery and the prospect of sitting another season out, Watmore was given a “real lift” recently when he received a personal letter of support from none other than Real Madrid Club de Futbol.
The forward’s father, Ian, posted a photo of the message on social media, which was signed by Real’s sporting director Emiliano Butragueno on behalf of club president Florentino Perez.
Duncan went to rehab today to find this letter waiting for him. How classy is that from @realmadrid? I now hope they win the Champions League again! pic.twitter.com/0D4rLIw5Wc
— Ian Watmore (@ianwatmore) December 5, 2017
Speaking to BBC Sport, Ian Watmore said:
If Duncan was a world famous player maybe you’d expect it. It was totally out of the blue. What an incredible gesture.
To get the letter was a total surprise but what an incredible gesture from a very classy club. It has given Duncan a real lift. He sent me a picture of it on WhatsApp as he left the training ground and I asked if I could tweet it.
The reaction has been great. His situation is just awful really. We don’t know how long he will be out this time but I would be surprised if he is back before September or October next year.
How thoroughly lovely.