Injury update: Ben Chilwell returns to first-team Chelsea training
According to Football.London, Chelsea are in for a huge injury boost today as long-time absentee Ben Chilwell made his much-awaited return to first-team training. The English left-back has missed most of the second half of the current campaign with a ruptured cruciate ligament.
Having played 12 games for the Blues prior to being sidelined, the left-back suffered the injury in December during a Champions League clash against Juventus. He has since then been on the treatment table and is making a return to training now.
He was having a promising season on the left flank and both he and Reece James were havoc for opposition defenders to deal with. Having joined the club last summer, Chilwell has gone on to establish himself as a key cog in the Chelsea team.
The Blues will be relieved that the former Leicester man has returned to training. Whilst the current season is practically over and Chilwell is still some way from returning to the field, the fact that he is back with the lads will be a welcome boost for Thomas Tuchel.
Absence felt?
To say that Chelsea have missed the services of Ben Chilwell will be an understatement. In his absence, Marcos Alonso has admirably filled in at left-back but the Blues have found themselves stretched on several occasions.
At times, when the Spaniard has been injured or unavailable, Thomas Tuchel has been forced to resort to playing players out of position to fill in the void left by the Englishman.
We saw the likes of Malang Sarr and Saul Niguez deputise on that side of the pitch, but to very little effect. Chelsea themselves have had a very injury-plagued campaign and this is probably the worst one of them all.
The 25-year-old is almost certainly not going to feature again this season but he will want to continue training and get back to speed as he looks to be ready, fit and firing for the start of the next season. It is most likely that the Englishman is the first-choice option going into next season and he could want to be prepared for that.
Chelsea need to be careful with how they handle the Englishman though and have to ease him back to complete training to avoid chances of any relapse. Having a completely fit Ben Chilwell is a necessity for the Blues going into next season.
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The Blues will also have to be wise in the transfer market to ensure that a situation like this year does not repeat itself and that they are properly covered in all positions in case of injuries. In a season of much gloom, having just lost the final of the FA Cup as well, the return of Chilwell might just be the morale boost that the Blues were desperate for.