Mateo Joseph's agent drops injury latest on forgotten Leeds United forward

Mateo Joseph hasn't been seen in a Leeds United shirt since the 2024-25 season.

The Spanish forward played 41 times in all competitions that term, helping Leeds win promotion to the Premier League.

Consistently a player who's been the edge of an important first-team role at Elland Road, Joseph is at a perilous point of his Whites career.

He's contracted with Leeds until June 2028, having penned his last extension in January 2024.

The 22-year-old endured a fairly underwhelming loan spell in La Liga with Mallorca last season, scoring twice in 30 appearances.

But he's been sidelined since April after suffering an ACL injury, which has led him to become a forgotten man in Daniel Farke's squad.

What injury message has Mateo Joseph's agent sent?

Joseph's last competitive appearance came for Mallorca in a 2-1 win over Real Madrid on 4 April, in which he grabbed an assist.

Shortly after that is when he sustained his ACL injury, leaving him on the treatment table ever since.

In the meantime, Leeds made sure of their Premier League status last season before making a strong start to the 2026-27 campaign.

All the while, news of Joseph's recovery timeline has remained fairly quiet.

However, taking to his Instagram story on Wednesday, Joseph's agent, Pep Arau, posted a message to the Whites player.

Translated from Spanish, Arau's message reads: "Getting closer to returning every day. Six months."

Six months...why does this potentially have two meanings in relation to Joseph's injury status?

How long do ACL injuries typically take to recover from?

An ACL injury is one of the most serious and potentially long-term-impacting injuries a footballer can sustain.

The anterior cruciate ligament is the primary band of tissue inside the knee which connects the thigh bone (femur) to the shine bone (tibia).

So, given its location and the dependence footballers have on it, damage to it can sometimes reduce a player's explosiveness, as well as being prone to re-injury.

In most cases, a full return to injury from an ACL problem takes between nine to 12 months, but players can do it quicker with the top medical care they receive.

It's now just over six months since Joseph's last game before injuring himself for Mallorca, which offers an interesting conundrum into the meaning of Arau's message.

One the one hand, Joseph's agent could be simply marking that it's been this length of time since the injury occured.

On the other, Arau could be suggesting that Joseph is looking at another six months before he's ready to return.