Bayern Munich's Alphonso Davies on injury comeback
For Bayern Munich flyer Alphonso Davies, the greeting 'Happy New Year' will have taken on extra significance at the beginning of 2026.
Waving goodbye to a bittersweet year that brought the boon of a contract renewal with the Bavarian giants before injury heartache struck, Canada's captain is finally fully fit again and looking ahead to what could be a monumental 12 months.
It was in March 2025 - not long after Davies penned a new deal with Bayern that runs until 2030 - that the left-sided dynamo tore the cruciate ligament in his right knee and damaged his meniscus while on international duty with Canada.
Following an operation to repair the damage, a long rehabilitation period and recovery process began. Indeed, it would be 261 days until the 25-year-old finally made his on-field return to action.
Watch: Happy Days once again for Phonzy
“When I heard the diagnosis, all the energy went out of my body,” Bayern's No.19 explained, in quotes appearing in January's edition of the club's members’ magazine '51.' "After the operation, I woke up, looked at my leg and couldn’t believe what happened,” he continued.
“Then the questions came: will I be the same again? Will I play again? “When I showered for the first time after the op, all the emotions came out. I burst into tears."
Davies’s 2024/25 season over, the former Vancouver Whitecaps star knew he was facing into an arduous recovery process.
Watch: The best of Alphonso Davies
"I was in pain, couldn’t bend my leg, couldn’t walk for six or seven weeks," he explains in the publication.
"I hardly slept at night, woke up in pools of sweat. Not knowing exactly how long you’re out for; not being able to play. Having to do the same thing every day ... eventually your mind gets tired and says: I don’t want this anymore."
Yet, with a winning mindset that has helped the player lift six Bundesliga titles, two DFB Cups, a UEFA Champions League and many other team and individual prizes, Davies soon switched his mindset and got down to work.
"I said to myself: I can sit here and feel sorry for myself, or I can stay positive and fight. And that’s what I did. I knew there was no point complaining," he said.
Watch: Vincent Kompany on 'incredible' Davies
The subsequent weeks and months passed and, although he found the process especially challenging, the versatile full-back learned to take the positives from the situation. “Above all I learned patience,” he admitted.
“Only being able to watch; not being involved week after week – that opened my eyes. Maybe I needed to take a step back to see the bigger picture."
On 9 December last, Davies's moment arrived. In a UEFA Champions League game against Sporting Lisbon, the four-time Canadian men's player of the year was substituted on late in the contest, signalling the end of eight-and-a-half months of blood, sweat and tears in the treatment room.
Just five days later, his Bundesliga comeback was complete when he took to the field against Mainz.
Prior to the winter break, Davies's appearance tally for Bayern - the club he joined as an 18-year-old - rose to 229 games.
"I know now that I can't take anything for granted," he told '51' magazine. "When I'm on the pitch now, I give even more than before my injury. I enjoy playing the sport I love with people who I love. Being outside, fighting, winning."
With his renewed spirit and love for the game, 2026 looks set to be Davies's year, with Bayern fighting for titles on all fronts and Canada all set to co-host the FIFA World Cup.
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