Chelsea suffered an injury as £53million summer Christopher Nkunku required knee surgery and could miss the first TWO MONTHS of the Premier League season
- Nkunku injured the meniscus in his knee during a match with Borussia Dortmund
- The 25-year-old joined from RB Leipzig this summer in a deal agreed last year
- It is a setback for Mauricio Pochettino’s team in the run-up to the opener with Liverpool
Chelsea suffered a major blow on the eve of the new season when summer signing Christopher Nkunku had to undergo surgery for a knee injury he suffered against Borussia Dortmund last week.
Nkunku has damaged the meniscus in his knee and it is feared he will be sidelined for about two months.
Nkunku, who joined RB Leipzig on a deal last year, was one of Chelsea’s standouts on their US tour, scoring three times.
But he was injured early in their final game against Borussia Dortmund in the early hours of Thursday morning and was eventually forced off midway through the first half.
Nkunku was seen with an ice pack on his left knee and there was initial hope that the damage was not too serious, although it turned out to be more serious than first expected.
Christopher Nkunku suffered a knee injury during a pre-season friendly against Borussia Dortmund
The summer signing will require surgery and may miss the first two months of the new season
The injury comes as a blow to Mauricio Pochettino’s side ahead of their opener with Liverpool
The field at Soldier Field was in bad shape after an Ed Sheeran concert on Saturday, where part of the audience could stand on the field.
Chelsea players appeared visibly concerned as they walked on it, though head coach Mauricio Pochettino refused to blame the surface, insisting the setback had been suffered in an early challenge on Nkunku.
Pochettino said: “The doctors are checking him hopefully it’s not a big problem, but when he fell in action it might have been a penalty. Had the chance to score.
He feels something in his knee, but hopefully it’s not a big problem and he can (back) join the team soon. Now we need a few days to judge him and until we get back to London it’s hard to know.
“I haven’t seen the action, but it’s nothing to complain about. We always take some risks because the pitch isn’t perfect because they use it for different sports and that’s sometimes the risk of the tour, yes.
“But I think it was a bit unfortunate in the situation, but we can’t complain about the pitch and blame the pitch for why he got the injury. It was bad luck for me.’