James Sands is facing a lengthy period on the sidelines as New York City FC and FC St. Pauli both concurrently just announced that the loaned-out midfielder underwent surgery to address "a complex right ankle injury involving a fractured fibula and torn medial collateral ligament."
NYC is with you, Jimmy 💙
— New York City FC (@newyorkcityfc.com) February 16, 2025 at 9:04 AM
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Sands suffered the injury while playing his seventh match while on loan with FC St. Pauli in the German Bundesliga, who Sands joined on January 1 on a loan that runs through June 30. He was starting his fifth straight Bundesliga match, part of a solidified St. Pauli midfield that had churned out some decent results since adding Sands and separated from the pack of relegation-threatened teams at the bottom of the Bundesliga table.
The injury occurred in the 92nd minute with St. Pauli trailing SC Freiburg 0-1 at home and lined up for a last-gasp free kick to try to find an equalizer. Sands was forward in the attacking penalty area and rose to try to meet the whipped-in delivery to head home a goal (much like he did that one time against Inter Miami CF, you might remember), but landed extremely awkwardly and suffered what sounds like a horrible leg injury.
St. Pauli's official statement on the Sands injury says he underwent his corrective surgery at University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf and will be out for an indefinite period of time, and based on the severity of the injury as described, it might be hard to see Sands returning before the end of St. Pauli's 2024-2025 season.
This is the second bad turn of events to befall Sands while on a European loan away from New York City FC, though this one is of the freak injury variety, not the more standard "American player pushed aside by a new coach" he experienced when Michael Beale took over at the end of Sands's tenure with Rangers FC in Scotland.
Sands had settled in extremely well with St. Pauli, with ProSoccerWire passing along both glowing and devastating quotes from St. Pauli's manager, Alexander Blessin. Blessin said of the Sands injury in his post-match press conference, "This really hits me to the core. He was very strong in the tackle and got Jackson Irvine into a better position next to him. That's why it hurts so, so much. The hope is that he'll be back as soon as possible. But that's not likely at the moment."
Update 2/17: Tom Bogert reports Sands will be sidelined until June.
The injury throws into question what's in store for Sands. He might not be healthy again until the tail-end of his time on loan to St. Pauli, if he's back at all this season. What will that mean for him and a potential return to the Hamburg-based club for their 2025-2026 season? For now, all that can be done is hope Sands makes a smooth, speedy recovery from what sounds like a rough injury.
James Sands hat sich kurz vor Abpfiff des Spiels gegen den SC Freiburg eine komplexe Sprunggelenkverletzung mit Innenbandriss sowie einen Wadenbeinbruch zugezogen. Unser Mittelfeldspieler wurde bereits im Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf operiert und fällt auf unbestimmte Zeit aus. #fcsp
— FC St. Pauli (@fcstpauli.com) February 16, 2025 at 9:04 AM
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