Chelsea suffer new Christopher Nkunku injury setback

Christopher Nkunku is set to miss another four weeks for Chelsea (Fantasista/Getty)

Mauricio Pochettino has confirmed that Christopher Nkunku could miss up to four weeks for Chelsea due to another injury setback.

Chelsea’s £52 million signing has made just nine appearances in his first season at Stamford Bridge, mainly due to a knee injury which he suffered last summer which ruled him out of the first four months of the campaign.

Nkunku was brought on as a substitute in the second half of Chelsea’s Carabao Cup final on Sunday but was unable to make an impact as Virgil van Dijk won the game for Liverpool in extra time.

And Pochettino has revealed that Nkunku suffered an unspecified injury during Sunday’s final at Wembley.

‘We got yesterday [on Monday] that Nkunku was injured, we don’t know when he got injured,’ Pochettino said.

Christopher Nkunku was brought on as a substitute in Chelsea’s Carabao Cup final defeat to Liverpool (Fantasista/Getty)

‘We need to see and evaluate every day but I think, at the moment, maybe three or four weeks out.

‘Hope three or four weeks, no more.’

The injury will rule Nkunku out of Chelsea’s FA Cup fifth-round tie against Leeds United on Wednesday evening.

The France international is also set to miss Premier League games against Brentford, Newcastle United and Arsenal.

Pochettino also insists it is ‘unfair’ to judge Nkunku given how injuries have disrupted his debut campaign at Chelsea.

‘It’s difficult for him,’ said the Chelsea manager.

‘When he arrived in the pre-season, he was flying until he got the knee injury and now it’s nearly eight months and even when he was “ready” to be involved again, he was never the same player as before.

‘We have in our head, the potential, best Nkunku that everyone knows from Germany, from the Bundesliga, but it is not the same player when after he needs to be an impact player in the final because of different circumstances.

‘Of course, for the team it’s not a good thing for us because we can’t provide to the team a player who can perform and score goals and can be important in this type of game.’

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