Mauricio Pochettino reveals when 26y/o Chelsea star will return to Cobham training after latest injury blow

Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino expects Christopher Nkunku to return to training in three to four weeks after his latest injury. The French forward was a late substitute in the Carabao Cup defeat to Liverpool at Wembley but his time at Chelsea has been disrupted with injuries so far.

Ahead of the game against Leeds United tomorrow night, manager Mauricio Pochettino confirmed the latest blow and when he expected him to be back.

The Chelsea boss said: "We heard yesterday that Nkunku was injured. We don't know when he got injured. We need to see. At the moment, it's three or four weeks maybe out. We hope no more."

Pochettino also said it was hard to judge the striker because he's been disrupted by injuries and not the same player that was scoring goals in the German Bundesliga. He added: Yes, it is difficult for him. We were watching and he was flying in pre-season until he got the knee injury and now it's nearly eight months and even when he was ready to be involved again, he was never the same player as before.

"We have in our head, the best Nkunku that everyone knows from Germany, but that isn't the same player. Then sometimes that is why it is unfair to judge. The situation is always completely different. In that case, for the team, yes it is not a good thing for us. We cannot provide the team a player that can perform and score goals."

The 26-year-old joined Chelsea in the summer and immediately impressed in pre-season but the last eight months have seen him manage just one goal and a handful of appearances.