Rio de Janerio, July 19 :

Former Real Madrid midfielder Fernando Gago has signed a new 18-month contract with Velez Sarsfield as he attempts to return from a fifth major injury in as many years.

Velez president Sergio Rapisarda said the 34-year-old is training again and will be ready to play when Argentinian football resumes from its coronavirus hiatus.

“We are happy that he decided to come back after his latest injury,” Rapisarda told Radio Rivadavia on Saturday. “The best thing about this pandemic was that it allowed him to recover.”

Gago, whose previous contract with Velez expired in June, underwent surgery on his right knee in February after tearing tissue that was grafted to the joint in a previous operation.

The injury follows three Achilles tendon tears and a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament – all since 2015.

Gago, who played for Real Madrid from 2007 to 2012, has been capped 71 times for Argentina’s national team and was a member of the Albiceleste squad that finished second at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

The Argentinian Football Association (AFA) last week presented new sanitary protocols to the government in a bid to resume competitions next month. All professional sport was suspended in the South American country in March as the COVID-19 crisis escalated. Enditem(Xinhua)