Mauricio Pochettino has been speaking about the imminent return of Noni Madueke with the Chelsea head coach asked about the video that emerged online of the player at a party
Mauricio Pochettino has spoken to Noni Madueke about his behaviour after the Chelsea winger was spotted partying when he was injured. The 21-year-old has missed the Blues’ three games since the international break as he recovers from a minor injury but is getting closer to a return to the squad.
A video emerged online after Chelsea’s goalless draw with Bournemouth earlier this month of Madueke in attendance at a party. He was then criticised for his actions because he was absent from the Chelsea squad due to an injury.
Pochettino was asked about Madueke and his possible return against Fulham at his pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon. The Chelsea head coach was also asked about that elusive video.
In my opinion, he is working hard to try and recover,” the Argentine said. “He came back from the national break 10 days ago. Now he is well. He is trying to be on the same level as the team.
“This video, we were talking about that, it’s a thing you need to avoid. All of the players need to know that when you are a player of Chelsea, you need to avoid these things. It wasn’t a big issue, but we need to avoid these types of situation. He is recovering from the national team and we will see if he is fit.”
Pochettino said earlier in the press conference at Cobham that Madueke and his teammate Carney Chukwuemeka could be in line to return at Craven Cottage on Monday. However, the news wasn’t so good for vice-captain Ben Chilwell.
Hope that maybe Carney and of course Noni, also, after his injury when he came back from the national team,” he said. “He is getting ready, working hard. Yes, hope these two players maybe will be available for selection on Monday.”
Pochettino continued on Chilwell: “I think it is bad news. The doctor told me it’s not a good thing. It’s a bad injury but we need to assess in the next few days and we’ll see the period he is going to be out of the squad and the team. But I think it doesn’t look good, the injury. It was in the last minute of the game. Yes, we are really sad about the news of Ben.
“Time? It’s difficult to know now. It was only two days ago since it happened. We need to assess him and for sure, the club will communicate.”.
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