Albania manager Sylvinho has played down the injury issue that meant Chelsea striker Armando Broja was forced to leave his international camp ahead of time. Broja was selected once more for his country after nine months out injured but didn’t feature for Albania during their 3-0 win over Czech Republic on Thursday……CONTINUE.FULL.READING>>>...For More CONTINUE THE FULL READING▶▶
Broja is one of many doubts to arise over this latest break as Mauricio Pochettino prepares his side to take on Arsenal at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. Both teams have a host of injury problems but the Blues have not had the fortnight they had hoped for.
“To improve players, try to recover players from injury in two weeks, we’re going to spend working in the training ground,” Pochettino had said when explaining his plans for the break. “Of course different mood from the last time, last month. With a victory, it is much better. I think pushing, keep pushing and working hard to try and be better.”
How this has turned out in reality is slightly fractured with four fresh troubles occurring. Having only started two games since his long lay-off Broja was perhaps the most risky of those taken away. “What happened to Broja is very simple, it arose from a serious injury, he had been out for nine months,” Sylvinho explained.
“He came back a few weeks ago, he played a few minutes in the first match, the same in the second. Then, one match before coming to us, he played 45 minutes and was replaced due to some physical problems.
“Normally he had a check-up at Chelsea before coming to us, the checks had gone well. When he came here, he trained, but he still had a bit of concern: we sat down and spoke to the doctor, and we were in constant contact with Chelsea to find out about his injury.
“It was clear that he wasn’t he could play and together with the club and the player we agreed that he would return to Chelsea and begin his recovery. That’s the whole story.”
It puts some ease in the minds of Chelsea fans who are far too used to seeing their players suffer rebound setbacks after being rushed back too early. Broja was ahead of time when selected to play against Fulham on October 2 but that move was slightly forced due to the suspension of Nicolas Jackson.
There is now more wiggle room for Pochettino meaning that Broja may well be rested again after being taken off at half-time against Burnley. Broja not only seems more likely to be in a position to recover, especially after spending the week back at Cobham, but he also has Jackson to dovetail off.
The Senegal forward himself has hit a fitness issue and was ruled out of fixtures for his country after having surgery on his wrist. Although he is still wearing bandaging and heavy strapping on his right hand in training, football.london understands that it is not too serious and shouldn’t sideline him for domestic action.
Elsewhere there is a boost for Benoit Badiashile. The defender is back in team training and has been posting online with updates of his recovery as well as speaking about playing alongside fellow Frenchman Axel Disasi. “By playing and playing together, you learn how to react to things and see things a little bit better together. It’s one of those things that becomes easier,” he said of his former Monaco partner.
Badiashile is so often seen smiling in images from training and has caught the attention of his new France and Chelsea teammate Christopher Nkunku. The 25-year-old is also yet to play this season after signing over the summer but is making good progress himself, though a debut for the Blues doesn’t appear likely until December or even into 2024.
Nkunku responded to Badiashile’s latest post with a praying and fire emoji. The two France stars are part of a larger group yet to play this term with Romeo Lavia another one out of action.
The Belgian midfielder is reportedly not likely to get back into the first team mix until late November or early December as he recovers from an ankle hit he took during the last break. Lavia appeared to take a shot at such reports though with screenshots of a deleted post surfacing overnight of Lavia writing indirectly about ‘anything for likes and comments these days’.
Chelsea are still waiting to see how bad Cole Palmer’s knock with England Under-21s is after he was sent back to the club after being taken off at half-time against Serbia Under-21s on Thursday. Reece James is also being monitored this week with the Athletic reporting that he is in line to play against Arsenal. football.london understands that no decision has yet been made over his inclusion in the team but that there is a chance he could line-up for just the second time this season.
Mykhailo Mudryk is in action for Ukraine on Tuesday night and will also provide an update on his own fitness after being taken off late in the 2-0 win over North Macedonia on Saturday. Wesley Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah and Ben Chilwell remain out with long-term knocks.…CONTINUE.FULL.READING>>>
