The "it doesn't really hurt but it's not as it used to be".
Looks like you had a similar thing since you're informed about it. Right?
Well not similar, but some sort of knee injury, yes. Kind of like what Trezeguet had before he got operated on, but in my case it wasn't serious enough to go through surgery. I can play and the risk of tearing my patellar tendon is absolutely minimal (after not playing for 2 months last year to cool the tendon down), but I have to do a complete exercise program every week to make the knee feel better and better. But I have nothing to complain about really, it feels as if I'm getting there. The only downside is that I often think about the knee. Specifically when warming up before a game.
And I don't know why, but I have a couple of friends who tore their ACL. They all got back to playing football and after a few years their knees seem to be completely back to normal. That is, they could play after 6-7 months, but it took way more time for the leg to feel like the other leg.