Mauricio Pochettino has already hinted at Chelsea's Christopher Nkunku replacement vs Liverpool
Tuesday afternoon saw the confirmation of the news Chelsea did not want to hear. Christopher Nkunku is set to be out for a number of months having undergone surgery following a knee injury suffered against Borussia Dortmund.
It comes as a big blow to the Blues, with Nkunku looking set to have a big role for Chelsea following his £52million move in the summer — and an impressive pre-season record to boot. The forward provided a clinical edge in the opposition box which the Blues had sorely lacked.
Mauricio Pochettino was level-headed following the west London's final pre-season match of the summer, despite the pitch condition at least having a correlation to Nkunku suffering his injury. The former Paris Saint-Germain boss was still hopeful of the injury not being too serious at that stage, however, and will now have to consider life without the French forward — possibly until the end of 2023.
Pochettino will quickly have been required to change his plans for Liverpool, too. The 51-year-old hinted that his side that faced Dortmund was heavily with Liverpool in mind in the Premier League.
When asked about why Gabriel Slonina received no minutes in his hometown, Pochettino said: "Because I think the fifth game for me was to test the team that I want, is a plan in my head to play, to give 90 minutes to some players. It is only 10 days, our last game, I wanted to test Kepa for 90 minutes. I understand the question."
Chelsea news and transfers LIVE: All of the latest updates coming out of Stamford Bridge
Nicolas Jackson is the firm favourite to lead the forward line for Chelsea at Stamford Bridge following an impressive start to life with the club in pre-season too. Armando Broja will have been reintegrated into the fold having
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