Injury deprives Chelsea of the services of an important star.. 6 weeks at least
Chelsea coach Thomas Tuchel expects international left-back Ben Chilwell to be away from the London club for at least six weeks, as a result of suffering a knee injury during the sweeping victory over Juventus 4-0 in the Champions League.
There was fear that the injury that Chilwell suffered on Tuesday after contact with French midfielder Adrien Rabiot would be more dangerous than that, but Tochel assured the fans of the continental champion that he expected the player to return within six weeks.
And Tuchel stated on Friday that there is a possibility to avoid surgery for the 24-year-old, which means that his return to the team that leads the Premier League will be closer than expected.
"Ben has a partial anterior cruciate ligament injury and the decision has been taken to treat conservatively," the German coach explained. "The next six weeks will let us know if it worked and whether he will be fully available (to play) after six weeks, or if he needs surgery after that".
"At the moment, what matters is the six weeks. We are very optimistic because the first reaction of his body was very positive."
Spaniard Marcos Alonso is likely to replace Chilwell to fill the void during December's busy schedule, starting with Manchester United's visit to Stamford Bridge on Sunday in the Premier League.
Chilwell regained his place from Alonso in particular after he found himself content with sitting on the bench at the beginning of the season as a result of not getting his chance with the England team last summer during the European Cup, in which the "Three Lions" reached the final before losing to Italy on penalties in their stronghold "Wembley". ".
Chilwell is back at his best recently, scoring four times in five games for Chelsea and the England national team in October.
Although surgery is still a possibility in Chilwell's recovery path, Tuchel confirmed that the defender is optimistic.
"We will talk about it again in six weeks, maybe we don't need to talk about it because everything is fine," the German said. "There is no point in starting now to talk about the worst-case scenario, because there is also the best-case scenario."
Chelsea are also likely to miss French midfielder N'Golo Kante against United due to a minor knee problem.
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