As the Blues announced on Tuesday, Nkunku has already undergone knee surgery and will now complete the rehabilitation program in London. The club does not give an exact forecast of downtime in its statement, but writes of a “longer period” in which the Frenchman will not be available to the team. According to media reports, Nkunku could be out for up to four months. If this proves true, he would miss large parts of the first half of the season.
Nkunku sustained the injury in a friendly against Borussia Dortmund last Wednesday in Chicago (1-1). In the 22nd minute he had to leave the field after an examination by the medical department. Chelsea coach Mauricio Pochettino had hoped after the game “that it was nothing bigger” – apparently in vain.
After Nkunku’s injury, there was discussion in England about the poor condition of the pitch at Soldier Field, where the NFL team Chicago Bears normally plays its home games. “The place is not perfect, because the facility is usually used for another sport,” Pochettino said afterwards, but did not blame the newcomer’s injury on the lawn: “It was just bad luck.” The MLS team Chicago Fire also plays their games at Soldier Field.
Nkunku switched from RB Leipzig to the Blues in the summer for a good 60 million euros after previously winning the kicker top scorer for the 2022/23 season together with Bremen’s Niclas Füllkrug. Up until his injury, he knew how to impress in the Premier League club’s preparatory games: he scored in the 5-0 win over Wrexham, the 4-3 win over Brighton and the 2-0 win over Fulham and was therefore considered a great beacon of hope. to remedy the Blues’ lack of goals from last season.
For Chelsea it is already the second injury setback of the summer preparation. In July, Nkunku’s compatriot Wesley Fofana suffered a cruciate ligament rupture, which means that the central defender, who previously cost around 80 million euros, will be missing from the London club for large parts of the season. Chelsea recently signed Axel Disasi from Monaco to replace Fofana. Something could also happen on offense – the rumors will certainly not diminish after Nkunku’s injury.
