London [UK], August 8 : Chelsea's French forward Christopher Nkunku will miss out the on field action for an extended period following an injury he suffered in their US pre-season tour.
Chelsea released an official statement to announce Nkunku's absence which read, "Nkunku has sustained a knee injury which will rule the forward out for an extended period. The 25-year-old has undergone an operation and will now begin a rehabilitation programme with the club’s medical department."
Last week, in Chelsea's 1-1 draw against Bundesliga side, The French forward featured for over 20 minutes before begin subbed off from the field and begin replaced by Mykhailo Mudryk.
After the 1-1 draw, Pochettino confirmed the issue and the extent of the problem when he spoke in the post-match.
"The doctors are checking him and I hope it is not a big issue. He fell in the action which was maybe a penalty and he feels something in his knee but we hope it is nothing big. We hope he can be back quickly with the team. We need a few days to assess him," Pochettino said as quoted by the club's official website.
The 25-year-old is a graduate of the famous French national football academy at Clairefontaine.Nkunku started his career at Paris Saint-Germain. For PSG, he made 78 first-team appearances.
With PSG, he won three Ligue 1 titles and Coupe de France triumphs. In 2019, Nkunku signed for the German club RB Leipzig. He scored 35 goals for them in the 2021/22 season, in all competitions.
In due course of it, he went on to win the Bundesliga Player of the Season title and the German PFA Player of the Season trophy. He further managed to win DFB-Pokal with RB Leipzig as well.
Other than Nkunku, Nicolas Jackson and Armando Broja are Pochettino's available first-team strikers for the start of the Premier League 2023-24 season.
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