Franck Ribery missed the last 4 months of last season with a nagging ankle injury that keep both him and the team frustrated beyond belief. What was a 4-day timeline turned into week's, then months, then immobilization of the ankle.
Despite all the sadness of today's announcement that Bastian Schweinsteiger will be leaving Bayern Munich for the Premier League, there is some happiness in that Franck Ribery was removed from his cast this morning. The former French international will undergo several weeks of rehabilitation before joining first team practice.
This rehab timeline could see Ribery playing for Bayern Munich by the time the DFL SuperCup and Audi Cup roll around at the beginning of August, though it would be a much safer bet to assume that Ribery will be fully 100% ready for the start of the Bundesliga season on August 14th when Bayern Munich kick off against Hamburger SV.
What's more certain is that when Franck Ribery returns to the pitch it will be akin to a wondrous angelic spirit coming down and blessing the Allianz Arena, because for the last few months that's felt like miracle that would never come.