Chelsea have been handed a timely injury boost as with the return of winger Christian Pulisic.
The Blues welcomed back the American to training yesterday ahead of their visit to Newcastle this weekend.
Pulisic has been out of the Chelsea squad for about seven weeks with an ankle injury and has not played for his side since the opening day of the season on August 14.
His return to action will be a boost for Thomas Tuchel whose main strikers Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner are unavailable after picking up injuries in last week’s Champions League victory over Malmo.
The absence of the duo left Tuchel with no choice but to rely on Kai Havertz, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Mason Mount as Chelsea’s front three, and with Hakim Ziyech the only striker or winger available as a backup option over the past week.
Although the London side remained top of the league even without the services of their main strikers, they will be glad the American is available for selection after an injury hell that ruled him out for weeks.
Since joining Chelsea in the summer of 2019 in a £60million deal, the 23-year-old has struggled with niggling fitness issues.
In his time at Stamford Bridge, Pulisic has picked up 11 injuries and has missed 41 matches over the past two years for the Premier League side.
The former Borussia Dortmund man has spent nearly 350 days on the treatment table since his arrival, with head coach Tuchel admitting recently that the player is suffering mentally and physically from the multiple injury setbacks.
“Once these players with quick movements like Christian, once they feel this pain and they are not free in the movement, the recovery is not happening,” Tuchel said last week.
“You start all over again and you reach a certain point and the pain comes back. And you have to do a little pause and start all over again.
“He is very impatient, of course, and he does everything and we can see him suffer in every meeting. And every time we meet him here (at training) he is really suffering and wants to be on the pitch and help us.”
