BREAKING: Key Chelsea starter has new injury, will return from national team | OneFootball

The Argentina FA have just announced that Enzo Fernandez is leaving their international break camp to return to Chelsea because of “synovitis” in his knee.

Knee problem means early return for Chelsea man

Enzo Fernandez coming back to Chelsea.

Synovitis is an inflammation in the knee. It’s likely able to be cured just with plenty of rest, although Enzo doesn’t get much of that. Between Argentina and Chelsea, he’s played almost non stop since 2022.

He trained with lots of tape on his right knee in recent days and played 78 minutes against Venezuela, but clearly has decided it’s a risk to play more. There’s a full week until Chelsea face Nottingham Forest in the Premier League’s early kick off next Saturday.

Enzo joins list of players to be managed carefully

To be honest, we can’t tell if this is good news or bad news. It’s great that Enzo is getting to come back early, saving him the minutes of another game and meaning he will be the right side of the Atlantic in the days leading up to our game against Nottingham Forest next week.

But obviously, if this is going to be a serious, ongoing thing that’s a disaster. Enzo has played a crazy number of minutes over the last few years, and it was inevitable he was going to start picking up wear and tear injuries like this one.

Let’s hope a week’s rest reduces the inflammation and lets him get back to 100%. We would happily start him on the bench against Forest and just hope other attackers get the job done without him. At this moment of the season, with our other key creative force Cole Palmer also nursing a chronic injury, it’s far more important we get everyone fit than potentially ruin their seasons before they’ve really got starter.