Mauricio Pochettino confirms Chelsea's £52m man Christopher Nkunku could finally make his long-awaited debut against Newcastle

The French attacker was included in Chelsea's matchday squad against Sheffield United during the weekend for the first time since joining the club for £52m ($66m) in the summer, but the player did not play any part in the team's 2-0 win.

Blues boss Pochettino has now confirmed that Nkunku is likely to make his debut against Newcastle in their Carabao Cup quarter-final clash on Tuesday but urged fans to not put too much pressure on the player and allow him to get himself acclimatised with English football.

Speaking to reporters ahead of the match, the Argentine coach said, "This is my worry: to put too much pressure on him and say 'oh, now he's arrived, he's going to make us win every single game and change everything.' I don't believe it is going to be like this because he now needs time to recover his feelings.

"I hope that he starts maybe tomorrow, he plays and scores three goals. And then be consistent. But the most important thing is not to create too much pressure on him because he needs to find himself, feel the competition and then to adapt in a team that was competing in the last four or five months without him."

He added, "That is why we need to be careful because he still didn't make his debut in the Premier League. You know how tough is the Premier League for every single player that comes outside of England. The reality was he wasn't for me a player to be involved after 2-0, I didn't want to take a risk with him. If tomorrow, because I am seeing today much better than the day before playing Sheffield United, maybe it increases the possibility of being involved.

"How I see [him] today? I can tell you maybe he can play 20 minutes. How I saw him before the game against Sheffield United, in my mind, there was 1%, 2% of doubt. That's why I didn't want to take a risk. That's how I explained it to him."

After facing the Magpies during the midweek, Chelsea will next face Wolves in the Premier League on Christmas Eve.