In-depth review of Harry Wilson injury as Leeds United get likely return timeframe

Harry Wilson will spend the international break recovering from an injury for Leeds United.

The winger will not feature in Wales' upcoming fixtures over the break, as Daniel Farke confirmed the player's injury issue before the Crystal Palace game.

The Whites drew 0-0 against Palace at Elland Road on Sunday, and Wilson's magic was missed in the closing stages of the game.

The 29-year-old came to LS11 on a free deal after his contract expired with Fulham, where he just had a career-best season with the Cottagers in the Premier League.

Farke revealed that the forward missed the draw against the Eagles with a thigh injury, but was unable to say how severe the issue is.

However, the German head coach's comments were more revealing than people may think, as Leeds can now get a rough idea of how bad Wilson's injury is.

Harry Wilson's injury reviewed in depth

Wilson has only started in one of Leeds' Premier League games so far this season, but is still expected to play an important role this campaign.

The Whites beat off strong competition from Aston Villa and other European clubs, as one report suggested the Wales international was offered £100,000 per week to go to Villa Park.

Farke was delighted to land the right-winger, but wasn't so happy when explaining the latter's injury.

The Leeds head coach said: "Sadly, Wilson is out for this game. Quad injury. He reported some problems after last game and then also during this training week; he will probably also miss the Welsh games.

"So definitely not good news for him and also not for the Welsh team."

The most telling part of Farke's admissions was that Wilson had already reported an issue with his quadricep.

This instantly makes the issue sound like a developing injury rather than an acute tear of the muscle.

A minor quad irritation or strain usually leaves a player sidelined for one to two weeks, while a mild to moderate strain can be two to four weeks.

A grade 2 strain normally leaves a player out for four to eight weeks, and that's still possible in Wilson's case. Anything above this would be regarded as significant.

Though a specific grade of thigh injury can not be identified, the fact that Farke said Wilson would "probably" miss the Wales games suggests that it's not a significant injury.

The thigh injury research that estimates Wilson's return date

Research published in Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports in 2024 can be usefully applied to Wilson's case.

The research was conducted on quadricep muscle strains in elite male Australian football players, and the results found a median of 23 days until players could return to competitive action.

However, the range was anywhere between five and 82 days as a maximum return for a strain.

We have established that the injury is not significant; therefore, it could be either a grade 1 or 2 quad strain.

Farke announced news on Wilson's injury on 18 September; Leeds' next game is away at Arsenal on 10 October.

If inclusively counting 18 September and 10 October, then it's exactly 23 days in total; the median return for a quadricep strain.

Wilson could be back on the bench for Arsenal.