Christopher Nkunku ready for Chelsea debut six months after £52m transfer as Mauricio Pochettino gives less positive Reece James, Marc Cucurella & Robert Sanchez injury updates

The France international forward saw a switch to Stamford Bridge pushed through on June 20. His arrival from RB Leipzig generated plenty of fanfare in west London, with the 26-year-old having hit 58 goals across his last two campaigns in Germany. He was, however, to pick up a serious knee injury in pre-season that required surgery and has not been seen since.

Quizzed on whether the Frenchman could figure in a Premier League clash with Sheffield United, Blues boss Mauricio Pochettino told reporters: “Yes, can be involved. That is very good news. To be involved tomorrow and be in the squad and to feel the competition after the pre-season is good news for us. We need to be calm and quiet so not to put all the pressure on him. Now he's going to evolve, know the Premier League. It's a big motivation for us, for the team-mates, and the fans to see a player that should be important for us and to be in the squad for the first time.”

While Nkunku is ready to go again, Chelsea’s ongoing injury nightmare in 2023-24 has seen them lose Reece James, Robert Sanchez and Marc Cucurella to hamstring, knee and ankle problems respectively. Pochettino added on those blows, with first-choice goalkeeper Sanchez leaving a sizeable void to fill: “I think always when you suffer an injury and he was our No.1 goalkeeper so far, always a player we will miss. We have another goalkeeper who is working hard to be ready. Of course, very sad because we are going to lose a player, maybe for a few weeks. We need to wait and see perfectly the situation and also with Reece and Marc Cucurella. From the beginning we are being hit with different circumstances. We need to be strong because the competition doesn't stop.”

Dorde Petrovic is set to provide cover between the sticks for Sanchez, with Pochettino also being forced to shuffle his pack elsewhere as Chelsea look to respond positively to back-to-back defeats and a run of results that has delivered just three wins through their last nine games in all competitions.