Chelsea's £52m star development to hand Mauricio Pochettino huge boost

Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino could be handed a massive boost for their game against Sheffield United this weekend with summer signing Christopher Nkunku stepping up his recovery. The French forward is pushing to make his debut this weekend after a long layoff.

Pochettino's team have struggled for goals this season and Nkunku who fired three in pre-season before his injury against Dortmund could be the answer to the puzzle that has led to an underwhelming start to the campaign. They have recorded just five wins from 16 league games and sit 12th on the league table with pressure mounting on Pochettino who called for more signings after the defeat to Everton last weekend.

He said: “After the first half of the season, we need to check. That is the reality. If we’re not aggressive enough (in attack), maybe we need to do something, some movement (in the squad). That is something to analyse with the sporting directors, and owners, and see what we can do to change this dynamic. We need to be more aggressive. It’s not only to dominate and play well, it’s to compete better.”

Chelsea are monitoring Napoli striker Victor Osimhen who has just been crowned the Africa Player of the Year, Sporting Lisbon’s Viktor Gyokeres, Brentford’s Ivan Toney, as well as teenagers Roony Bardghji at FC Copenhagen and Antonio Nusa at Club Brugge. But the return of Nkunku is still expected to lift the team and depending on how impactful he is could lead to a change of transfer plans in January.