Lewis Ferguson signs new Bologna deal as dad Derek lifts the lid on injury comeback timeline

Derek Ferguson has confirmed that his son Lewis has extended his contract with Bologna and believes that the Scotland star is ahead of schedule on the injury comeback trail.

The I Rossoblù skipper has been a massive hit in Italy since joining the club from Aberdeen for £3million in the summer of 2022 and was named as the best midfielder of the season in Serie A earlier this year after surpassing Denis Law to become the highest scoring Scottish player in the Italian-top-flight with 13 goals. However, as Bologna raced towards Champions League qualification, Ferguson suffered a serious knee injury that required surgery, ruling him out of the remainder of the season and denying him the opportunity to be a part of the Scotland squad at Euro 2024.

The 25-year old - who's displays in Italy have caught the eye of AC Milan, Napoli, Juventus and Manchester United - has been working hard in his rehab all summer and is hoping to make his return to action over the next couple of months. And speaking on the "Let Me Be Frank" podcast - sponsored by betideas.com - dad and former Rangers favourite Derek says he has seen footage that suggests the dynamic midfielder's return could come sooner than expected and that he has signed a new deal with Bologna until 2029.

He said: "I got a wee bit of footage of him training the other night, and this has actually surprised me, where he is in his rehab at the moment. When I saw the footage after five and a half months, to see him already at that stage, he’s coming on leaps and bounds. If you look at an ACL – and it wasn’t just his ACL, he did his medial as well – it’s somewhere between nine and 12 months.

“But it’s just when I saw the footage. I’ve watched it numerous times, and I’m looking at it