Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino has acknowledged that the club would analyze the situation with Christopher Nkunku and his injuries before entering the January transfer market. After missing six months due to a knee ailment, the France international subsequently developed a hip problem.
The 26-year-old, who joined Chelsea in the summer for about £52 million, has only appeared four times for the Blues since his arrival. Nkunku made his debut for the club last month in a Carabao Cup cameo against Newcastle United and has since appeared three times.
However, he is now expected to miss time due to a new hip injury. Nkunku has been unable to practice with the rest of the group at Cobham for the past ten days, but Pochettino is unsure how long the Frenchman will be out.
Chelsea were relying on Nkunku to return and assist them overcome their goalkeeping problems. With Nicolas Jackson presently representing Senegal at the Africa Cup of Nations, Armando Broja, who has had his own injury issues over the last year or so, is the only centre-forward option.
This could force Chelsea to look for another attacker. Pochettino, on the other hand, continues to want to meet with sporting directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley to explore whether it will force their hand.
“It’s true that we will see the situation in the next few days,” Pochettino told reporters at Cobham. “That’s why I told you I was a little concerned.”
“I still don’t have all the information about whether he will be available or not for a short period of time.” We need to be really clinical in order to make some decisions and think about how we might solve the problem.”
Pochettino was then questioned if, previous to Nkunku’s injury, he anticipated the forward would be Chelsea’s major goal scorer. “No,” he replied, “because it was the only player who was performing in a different league in Germany but was consistent in scoring goals.”
“Before the season began, things were as they were. Yes, we should check if Broja moved on after a year or if Jackson left Villarreal at that point. Jackson wasn’t a great scorer there, but he was still scoring when it happened. Jackson and Broja, both 21 years old, are young men who must adjust.
Because we were certain that Nkunku was a reliable goal scorer, we are somewhat more devastated by his loss. With a blow like this, you assume or expect that the guys who came here to support and develop would aid, but Jackson had to perform well and score with every touch. After missing a year, Broja finds it challenging to play three games in a row.
“All of these circumstances add a little more difficulty to our work. As I previously mentioned, it’s an interesting undertaking, but circumstances like these make it more challenging to adjust course and go at a different rate.”
