Jay-Roy Cave made one of the last hits of the Eredivisie season on March 7, 2020: the born Arnhemmer played a solo against FC Twente, but also suffered an injury. It has been his last feat on the football fields in almost a year.
Even when the ball started rolling again after the coronastop in Europe, Cave had to watch: the attacker suffered a crack in his meniscus during FC Twente and when he was operated on his knee, a bacterial infection followed to an excess of disaster. “After half a year, that bacterium was still in my knee. The wound did not close,” he tells the Gelderlander.
The football year 2020 was over for Cave, who had to start a long-term rehabilitation. In addition, he had to take antibiotics. “And that does not make a man fitter. I had to take a regular afternoon nap. And when I stood on the field to train, the sweat even smelled like the medicine.”
Now his return is finally beckoning: Cave has permanently left Leeds United — after rental periods at VVV-Venlo and Vitesse — and settled at Tweede Bundesliga club VfL Osnabrück at the beginning of February. “In Germany, I feel trust. In the winter there was also interest from the Eredivisie (Cave trained with ADO Den Haag, red.). But clubs wanted a directly employable player.” In Osnabrück he wants to dispel the memory of the unfortunate football year 2020. “At that goal I was at my best for Vitesse”, says Cave. “I didn‘t get a hangover from that solo and injury, but I did from that season. The year just didn’t turn out as hoped. So I would like to show you something here.”