Ex-Man Utd wonderkid and Premier League star suing doctor for £7m over ‘unnecessary' op he claims cost him his career
Sylvan Ebanks-Blake went under the knife after breaking his leg in 2013.
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Sylvan Ebanks-Blake is suing a doctor for an 'unnecessary' operation
Credit: Getty Images - Getty
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He came through the youth ranks at Manchester United
Credit: Getty - Contributor
The retired striker never fully recovered from the injury as he did not return to top-flight football after the surgery.
The 39-year-old believes that his surgeon, Prof James Calder, performed an "unnecessary" and "destructive" operation on his ankle.
As a result, Ebanks-Blake says that the procedure caused his top-flight career to end prematurely.
His barrister Simeon Maskrey KC told Mrs Justice Lambert at London's High Court: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"
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It is also part of the footballer's case that he claims he was not asked for proper consent before the operation.
However, Prof Calder's lawyers have argued that Ebanks-Blake overestimated his skills.
They said he "had an overoptimistic view of his own powers of recovery".
Barrister Martin Forde KC added: "Far from curtailing the claimant's career, the defendant will argue that his clinical skills prolonged the career of a professional footballer, who had suffered a very serious injury."
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Ebanks-Blake was a promising forward in his youth days as he represented England at the Under-21 level.
He also played youth football for
Where are they now: The unusual careers of former footballers
The striker spent two years there before joining
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He scored 62 goals in 193 appearances for the club, including ten in the Premier League.
Ebanks-Blake helped the club reach the top-flight in 2009 and was part of the iconic strike partnership alongside Irishman Kevin Doyle.
He spent five years at the Molineux before the broken fibula injury struck.
Ebanks-Blake left the club at the end of that season and
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