Concern for Chelsea! Blues wait with bated breath after star withdraws from international duties with knee problem

Chelsea are already in the midst of an injury crisis with Liam Delap, Tosin, Wesley Fofana, Andrey Santos and Dario Essugo all missing for the Blues prior to the international break. Levi Colwill, meanwhile, is a long-term absentee having suffered an ACL injury in pre-season, and he is unlikely to feature for the club this campaign.

In addition, Cole Palmer also hasn't featured for the Club World Cup winners since coming off in the first half of the 2-1 loss at Manchester United last month, while Reece James was also forced to withdraw from the England squad this week.

And now Enzo Maresca has been handed another potential injury headache after Fernandez returned to the club early owing to synovitis in his right knee. Fernandez was pictured in training with Argentina was strapping to the affected knee, yet he still played the bulk of the World Champions' 1-0 win over Venezuela in Miami at the weekend.

Chelsea will be hoping that Fernandez's knee issue isn't a long-term problem as the Blues battle through a minor injury crisis. Indeed, the 24-year-old has been an ever present for the west London side this season having started all seven Premier League matches.

In that time, Fernandez has scored three goals and provided one assist, and was vital as the Blues overcame west London rivals Fulham earlier in the season having directly contributed to both Chelsea goals in a 2-0 home win.

And he played the full 90 minutes as Chelsea claimed a late 2-1 victory over Liverpool prior to the international break. Moises Caicedo had fired the Blues ahead in the first half against the Reds before Cody Gakpo drew Liverpool level midway through the second half. Estevao, the only Brazilian in the Chelsea squad on international duty this month, then bagged the winning goal deep into second half injury time to spark jubilant scenes at Stamford Bridge.

It's not just Fernandez who Maresca is worried about in the Chelsea midfield either. Fernandez has played the second most league minutes for the Blues this season, with Caicedo the only player to have featured more for the Blues in the 2025/26 campaign.

However, Caicedo missed out for Ecuador this month as La Tri geared up for international friendlies against 2026 World Cup co-hosts USA, that one ending in a 1-1 draw, and Mexico. The 23-year-old has had little rest this season and Maresca was able to convince Ecuador boss Sebastian Beccacece to overlook Caicedo for the October international break.

Beccacece has added fuel to the fire that Caicedo is actually carrying a knock after he last week said: "About Moises, his coach [Maresca] said he’s injured. He’s not well."

Maresca will hope for some good news on the injury front ahead of Chelsea's return to domestic action next weekend. The late 2-1 win over Liverpool last weekend was just their third league win of the season and ended a three-game winless run as the Blues look to challenge on multiple fronts.

They get their campaign back underway with a trip to struggling Nottingham Forest next weekend. The Tricky Trees have made a poor start to the season having won only one of their opening seven matches and currently sit 17th as pressure mounts on head coach Ange Postecoglou.

Postecoglou came in as Nuno Espirito Santo's replacement after the Portuguese boss was relieved of his duties at the City Ground last month. The Australian's appointment has proven an unmitigated disaster with the club failing to win all seven competitive games to date under Postecoglou.

'Sacked in the morning' echoed around the City Ground during their recent Europa League loss to FC Midtjylland and recent reports suggest that Sean Dyche is being lined up to take over in the Midlands. Dyche, who was recently linked with the Rangers job, has been out of work since his Everton departure back in January.