All smiles at Chelsea's Cobham training base as 25y/o returns ahead of Manchester City

Chelsea have been boosted with the return of Christopher Nkunku to first-team training ahead of their game against Manchester City but he's not likely to be involved until after the international break.

Nkunku is still waiting to make his debut after he signed for the Blues in July, with the west Londoners paying £52m to bring him in from German side RB Leipzig.

Chelsea fans are desperate to see Nkunku in action following his impressive stint at Leipzig, where he registered 70 goals and 56 assists across 172 games.

Since his injury Chelsea have had a difficult start to the season winning four of their first 11 games in the league including the 4-1 win over rivals Tottenham.

They have however reached the quarter-final of the League Cup where they will take on Newcastle United with manager Mauricio Pochettino previously confirming that they will take the competition seriously due to the lack of European football this season.

Nkunku's return is likely to bring the best out of Nicolas Jackson who formed a great partnership with the French forward in pre-season before he suffered the injury.

Chelsea already have Benoit Badiashile back and he impressed in the win against Blackburn even though the likes of Ben Chilwell and Carney Chukwuemeka still look like they have a long way to go before they can rejoin the team.

The Blues will hope that the win against Tottenham and Nkunku's possible return after the international break is the catalyst that gets them back on track after what has been a difficult start to the campaign.