Lewis Ferguson captained Bologna to a Champions League win over Borussia Dortmund, then admitted the mental toll of a serious knee injury has been tough to overcome.
The 25-year-old played the full 90 minutes as his side defeated the Bundesliga giants 2-1, a result that cost Dortmund boss Nuri Sahin his job, securing his club’s first ever victory in Europe’s premier club competition – as he continues his return to form after a cruciate ligament injury sustained almost a year ago. Former Aberdeen star Ferguson had been a standout performer for Bologna in Serie A, before his season was ended early by the horror injury – which ruled him out of action for almost nine months.
He made an emotional return to action in November, also extending his contract with the Rossoblu until 2028, but is now being heavily tipped for a move to Inter Milan in the summer. But speaking after the Dortmund success, Ferguson revealed that overcoming the injury has had a mental toll – admitting he was “scared” when he first returned to action.
Speaking to Sky Italia after the victory he said: “We are happy with the result and the performance. There is a bit of a feeling of having made history tonight, I am very proud of this team. Where can we get to? We think game by game, we play good football and we have fun, we work every day with the coach and the staff and we are already thinking about the next one.
“At the beginning, I was a bit scared, but now I’m fine. The first few months were difficult, every day I was feeling in a different way. I am still working to improve my knee, but now I am fine and on the pitch I feel normal. Let’s see where we can get to but we are doing well.”
Reports in Italy suggest that Inter Milan boss Simone Inzaghi may be prepared to fork out as much as £25.3million to sign the player, who is Scotland’s all-time leading goalscorer in Italy’s top-flight with 14 strikes in 68 matches. Aberdeen will be watching on with interest having inserted a 15 per cent sell-on clause into the deal that took Ferguson from Pittodrie to the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara in the summer of 2022.