According to the Evening Standard, Chelsea’s latest signing, Christopher Nkunku suffered a knee injury in their pre-season match against Borussia Dortmund, which means he will be unavailable for the start of the upcoming campaign.
Nevertheless, early medical assessments suggest that the French international’s absence is expected to be just a few weeks. Nkunku returned to London on Thursday for further evaluation after the incident occurred during Chelsea’s last pre-season game at Soldier Field in Chicago.
During a pre-season match against Borussia Dortmund, Nkunku had to leave the field in the 22nd minute due to a knee injury. The injury occurred after a collision with Dortmund’s Mats Hummels.
Concerns have been raised about the suitability of the playing surface itself, as players and staff had expressed worries about the pitch conditions before the match.
The stadium where the game took place is the home ground of the NFL’s smallest team and had recently hosted a massive Ed Sheeran concert, attracting a crowd that swelled its capacity to 73,000. These conditions are being considered as potential factors that may have contributed to Nkunku’s injury.
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Despite the attacker’s injury setback during a pre-season match against Dortmund, Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino refrained from blaming the pitch for the incident.
However, it is likely that the French star will miss the opening match against Liverpool on August 13 due to the knee injury.
Nkunku, who joined Chelsea from RB Leipzig in a £52 million transfer this summer, had an impressive pre-season before the injury occurred.
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In his absence, Mykhailo Mudryk and Ian Maatsen are among the contenders to replace him in the first team, both eager to seize the opportunity to leave their mark.
While Chelsea will miss the 25-year-old’s presence against Liverpool, they can take solace in the fact that his injury is not long-term, allowing him to return to action relatively soon.
