Chelsea’s intense injury crisis continued this week as a star played was ‘sent back’ after he attempted to make a return to training.
Chelsea’s already underwhelming season hit a fresh nadir over the past week as they were eliminated from the FA Cup by Manchester City and then smashed 5-0 by Arsenal.
Even a top-10 finish is not guaranteed and another tough challenge awaits as Mauricio Pochettino’s side travel to Champions League-chasing Aston Villa on Saturday night.
The task is made even tougher by the fact Chelsea are without up to 13 players for the match, the most absentees in the Premier League.
Star of the season Cole Palmer is at least set to return after illness but Christopher Nkunku, Enzo Fernandez, Reece James, Ben Chilwell, Levi Colwill, Romeo Lavia, Wesley Fofana, Raheem Sterling, Robert Sanchez, Malo Gusto, Carney Chukwuemeka and Lesley Ugochukwu are all sidelined.
There doesn’t appear to be much light at the end of the tunnel on the injury front, either, especially with Nkunku.
Chelsea get troubling Christopher Nkunku update
Nkunku’s start to life in Premier League football could not have gone much worse as he has been plagued by injury all season long
The French forward has struggled with a knee, hip and now hamstring injury that has limited his playing time to a mere 396 minutes.
According to journalist Rahman Osman, Nkunku is no closer to a return to action. In fact, it’s reported he attempted to train earlier this week but was instead sent back inside.
Rahman posted on X, formally Twitter: “Chelsea’s injury list is just incredible.
“Literally every week someone has to be injured. Told earlier this week Nkunku attempted to train this week but was sent back in.”
Will Nkunku play again this season?
At this stage, it’s difficult to see the point in even playing Nkunku again this season.
Though they don’t exactly deserve it after such a dreadful season, Chelsea could still mathematically qualify for a European place in either the Europa Conference League or Europa League.
Whether or not the club would actually want the burden of Thursday night football is another matter but there is still something on the line in the six remaining league games.
But even still, bringing back Nkunku now seems like an unnecessary risk, even if he does return to fitness.
If Chelsea want to see any return on their £52m investment, at this point all focus should be on getting him back to peak condition over the summer so he can start next season strongly.
