Injury Update: Chelsea full-back Ben Chilwell is set to return to training next week
According to Goal (h/t Football.London), Chelsea full-back Ben Chilwell is nearing full recovery and could feature in training with the academy next week.
Chilwell has been sidelined since November last year following a ruptured ligament injury. It was communicated earlier that the Englishman could miss the entire season and it now seems like his rehab has gone well.
Goal (h/t Football.London) suggests that the full-back is doing minor ball work as a part of his recovery process. They even added that he could return to full training with the academy next week, which comes as welcome news for any Chelsea fan.
A massive boost for the club?
The ex-Leicester City star was constantly in the spotlight during the initial half of the season due to the role he played for Tuchel in Chelsea’s attack and defence down the left-hand side. The Englishman scored three goals and gave one assist in 12 matches across all competitions before succumbing to a serious injury against Juventus in a 4-0 win last year.
Chilwell featured prominently for Frank Lampard but worked well to mould himself into a wing-back capable of playing in Tuchels five-at-the-back system. Both he and Reece James are important to how Chelsea play.
And that is why their injuries were a massive setback for us- more so because we failed to adequately replace them in the short term in the winter transfer window.
Tuchel was left with only one established left-back in the form of Marcos Alonso during this time. The manager couldn’t risk his fitness a lot as well, so he played centre-back Malang Sarr and even Saul Niguez down that side to make up for the Englishman’s absence.
Naturally, the combination didn’t have the same effect as Chilwell. Fans would have been eagerly waiting for news on their star left-back’s return from injury and it seems like their prayers have been answered.
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It is a massive boost for the club and the manager when he does return to the team in the future. Chelsea have an FA Cup final next month but perhaps that game comes a tad too early for him.