Chelsea’s new signing Christopher Nkunku came off injured in his side’s pre-season fixture against Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday.
Nkunku was forced off in the 22nd minute against Dortmund in Chicago reportedly with knee discomfort. This comes amidst numerous complaints about the quality of the playing surfaces in the US, where many top teams around Europe went on pre-season tours.
He was pictured walking around with a limp later on during the game. This injury is potentially a big worry for Chelsea if the midfielder is sidelined for a lengthy period of time.
Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino expressed his concerns in the post-match press conference and said he is hoping that the injury is not serious and that Nkunku can return very quickly. The extent of the injury is not known and no potential return date has yet been reported.
Pochettino also said: “We hope he [Nkunku] can be back quickly with the team. We need a few days to assess him.”
Pochettino is already without defenders Wesley Fofana and Benoit Badiashile and would surely be annoyed if he is to lose another key player for an extended period to injury due to an incident he described as “unlucky.”
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The Argentine was starting to inculcate the club’s latest signings into his team and Nkunku was starting to play an important role in their pre-season games. Expectations of him becoming a crucial part of the Chelsea first-team were rising and hence many fans have been left dejected with news of his injury.
Nkunku arrived in London in June following a £52 million transfer from German club RB Leipzig. He rose to prominence due to his exceptional performances in Germany and made over 130 appearances after joining in 2019 from French club Paris Saint-Germain.
He initially joined PSG’s youth academy at age 12 and went onto graduate to the first team. He made his senior debut in 2015 and played over 60 games for the club.
The 25-year-old is now in a race against time to be back fit for Chelsea’s first game of the 2023/24 Premier League campaign against Liverpool on August 13. The Frenchman would want to hit the ground running, especially in a huge fixture against the Merseyside club.
For now, though, his chances of returning for that fixture remain in doubt until any further updates are reported.
