Chelsea’s transfer plans now left open after freak training injury ruins midfielder’s comeback | OneFootball

Chelsea are facing a heavily injury hit Napoli tomorrow night, with Antonio Conte’s team going through a nasty spell of luck that will remind Blues fans of many of the issues they themselves have had in recent years.

At the moment, things are pretty good at Stamford Bridge. The bulk of the first team are fit and ready, and the players out are those who have missed so many games that we almost forget they’re on the books.

Romeo Lavia has missed almost all of his 3 seasons at the club so far. Meanwhile Dario Essugo, brought in to fill the spaces left by Lavia, has somehow managed to play even less than the Belgian. He was on the verge of a return after being back in training for a solid period, only to disappear again last week.

As a reminder, Rosenior said ahead of the game against Crystal Palace at the weekend that:

“Dario picked up a really unfortunate injury. He slipped in training and he is going to be out for a while, over a month. It is a real shame because he is an outstanding player who I was really looking forward to working with.”

Chelsea will be left with big summer transfer questions over Essugo

Dario Essugo in a hospital bed after surgery.

Essugo hasn’t yet been put into the same category as Lavia because he’s only in his first season of injury hell. He had surgery on a thigh injury in the summer and this latest issue is apparently a freak caused by a slip in training. We’re not yet panicking that he’s going to be a permanent problem like his teammate. However it’s especially frustrating because he’s a new player, and missing so much of this season means it’s going

Are we going to need to buy another central midfielder in the summer? Or can we rely on Essugo both in terms of quality and availability? We may not know for another year, which leaves our summer plans very open.

In other news…

Chelsea welcomed both Lavia and Cole Palmer back to training this week, and while we’re not sure when they will be ready to play, it’s a good sign they’re on the right path.

Joao Pedro was picked ahead of Estevao for the team of the week in the Premier League this week after he racked up some solid numbers. He’s done his case for starting serious good.