Chelsea news – Mauricio Pochettino has provided the latest on Christopher Nkunku’s knee injury 🤕
Mauricio Pochettino believes that Christopher Nkunku is ‘close’ to being back involved with the squad as he continues recovering from a knee injury.
The Frenchman picked up the serious issue, which required surgery, in pre-season which has delayed his competitive debut for the Blues. Over the past few months he has provided a number of updates on his rehabilitation process with Chelsea fans left in a frenzy after seeing him outside in his full training gear at Cobham on Thursday.
However, while a playing return is still some way off, Pochettino was able to provide a positive update on his status ahead of Brentford. In his pre-match press conference, he said: “He is doing well, I think he is close, I hope he can be involved soon. Maybe after the international break. Maybe not not sure.”
Nkunku being back after the two-week pause in November would be a huge boost for the Blues and would likely allow him to make his debut before the end of the year. On the impact he will have upon his return, Pochettino added: “He was the player when you see the goals from last season, it’s a player that can provide goals and I think we are missing goals. We think he’s a player that can be important for us because he proved he can score.”
“We cannot complain. We need to work. Things can happen. We are looking forward to recover him and see him help us score more goals.” Elsewhere on the injury-front, following the update that Trevoh Chalobah and Carney Chukwuemeka are nearing a return Pochettino confirmed Armando Broja will miss the game and the current state of captain Reece James.
“Still not ready to start, he is training well but tomorrow he is going to be on the bench,” Pochettino said. Given James’ previous injury issues it certainly makes sense to delay a starting return, despite his displays in training leaving a lot of supporters in awe.
To provide more optimism regarding Nkunku, the 25-year-old missed large parts of the 2022/23 Bundesliga season with RB Leipzig and yet still scored 16 goals.
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