Christian Pulisic will have to fight hard for game time at Chelsea when he returns from a knee injury – after their splurge in the transfer market, under owner Todd Boehly.
Pulisic has really struggled to nail down a spot as a regular at Stamford Bridge in the past few years since arriving from Borussia Dortmund.
It seemed, either side of his involved in the United States’ run to the round of 16 at the World Cup in Qatar, that Pulisic was about to get his wish.
After coming on at half-time for 45 minutes against Newcastle in a 1-0 defeat before the World Cup break, Pulisic went on to earn three straight Premier League starts for the Blues against Bournemouth, Nottingham Forest, and defending champions Manchester City.
Just when he was starting to get a run of games, it all came crashing down against City, forced off after just 22 minutes with an injury. The Sporting News brings you all the latest updates on Pulisic’s injury, with everything we know about his potential return.
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Christian Pulisic injury latest news
Chelsea have been blighted by injuries this season, which (partially) explains why they have signed such a huge number of players in the January window.
N’Golo Kante, Edouard Mendy, Armando Broja, Andrey Santos and Raheem Sterling are among their long-term injury absentees, as well as Pulisic. Others like Denis Zakaria and Wesley Fofana are closing in on returns.
Speaking ahead of Chelsea’s game against West Ham in the Premier League on February 11, manager Graham Potter spoke about Sterling.
“We’ve had a little setback with Raheem,” he said. “He had a little kick in training on the side of his knee, so we’re assessing him and he is doubtful for tomorrow.
“Wesley has been training with the team, Denis Zakaria has been training with the team.
“Mateo [Kovacic] has trained with the team but it’s too soon for him. But we’ve got some options.”
Potter didn’t speak directly about Pulisic, but he’s among that group recovering and targeting a return as soon as possible.
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Chelsea injury news and what Graham Potter said
On Wednesday, January 11, Chelsea manager Potter delivered some difficult news, saying that Pulisic was now expected to be sidelined “a couple of months,” without giving any further details. That is marketably worse than previously expected, as Potter had given a more positive update just days prior.
Potter also confirms Christian Pulisic is likely “out for a couple of months” with a knee injury. Real shame having been given starting opportunities post World Cup. pic.twitter.com/pVC8BBGhL0
— Ben Jacobs (@JacobsBen) January 11, 2023
The injury for Pulisic was difficult to diagnose immediately what was wrong, as it was difficult to tell exactly what happened in the tackle by John Stones. After the match, Chelsea head coach Potter stated that the injury came from “contact to his knee,” but did not expand further on his condition or recovery timeline.
Reviewing the footage, it was difficult to see how Pulisic’s knee was injured on the play, as it seemed if anything there would be a painful blow to his ankle or shin. Nothing was terribly evident on video, so it was difficult to diagnose anything by watching the play.
Days later, following Chelsea’s FA Cup defeat to Man City, Potter gave a little more info on Pulisic’s timeline. “Christian opened up his knee in the game the other day, we’re still analyzing it,” he said. “I would say it’s going to be weeks for him.”
That suggested that Pulisic does have soft tissue damage in his knee, but that he has at least avoided anything extremely serious.
It initially seemed Pulisic would be back in time for the Champions League to resume and although Potter hasn’t given a firm update since, it’s been suggested Pulisic is optimistic about returning soon
