Chelsea defender Malo Gusto has had to withdraw from the France U21 squad because of injury.
As per L’Equipe, Malo Gusto has had an MRI scan that has revealed a small issue with his medial lateral ligament in his right knee.
The 20-year-old right-back is now set to miss games against Austria and South Korea U21s.
It is another injury problem for Mauricio Pochettino, but the Chelsea manager will at least be able to welcome Gusto’s compatriot Christopher Nkunku back after the international break.
The 25-year-old recently told the Argentine that he wants to be ready for the Newcastle United game.
Malo Gusto injured
Hopefully Gusto is not out for too long, but if he is, Chelsea might be OK in the right-back position. It just depends on whether Reece James can stay fit.
The England international is the Blues’ first-choice right-back and is available again after picking up a hamstring injury at the start of the season.
If James can avoid further injuries, then Chelsea should not miss Gusto too much if he does have to spend some time on the sidelines.
Pochettino also has Marc Cucurella, who has shown in the current campaign that he can play on the right side of defence.
The Spaniard has played really well of late, albeit on the opposite flank. Overall, he has been good this season.
According to WhoScored, Cucurella is making 3.3 tackles per game in the Premier League. It is the highest average in Pochettino’s squad.
With Ben Chilwell currently out injured, though, Pochettino will want to have Cucurella as an option for left-back.
Just when things were starting to get better for Chelsea, they have now picked up yet another injury. Their squad is still good enough to be above 10th place, but it is easy to see why they are nowhere near the top four at the minute.
