Boost for Chelsea! Mauricio Pochettino provides upbeat fitness update on Christopher Nkunku as striker returns to training

Nkunku's first season at Stamford Bridge has not gone according to the plan for Pochettino as the Frenchman has missed almost the entirety of the season through separate injuries. Chelsea's under-threat Argentine manager has now revealed that the youngster has returned to training for the Blues and could potentially return before the end of the season.

Speaking to the media, the Chelsea boss said: "They assess him day by day and now in the last few days, he has the possibility to be involved in some parts of the training session.

"We now need to see the reaction of his body and then how he is going to evolve. We hope we can involve him and he will be involved as soon as possible, or before the end of the season."

Chelsea have sorely missed the services of the French striker as they have struggled to get their forwards on the scoresheet regularly, barring Cole Palmer. Nkunku has only appeared on the field for the Blues nine times so far this season since his high-profile £52 million ($66m) transfer from RB Leipzig in the summer as part of a massive overhaul at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea are hopeful that the Frenchman could return to action in some capacity before the end of the season, however, they would have loved to have had him back for their next clash, which comes against Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-final on Saturday, April 20.