Thomas Tuchel confirmed that Kai Havertz had returned to Chelsea training ahead of their Premier League trip to Wolverhampton Wanderers on the weekend.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Tuchel told reporters that Havertz returned a negative covid test and was therefore able to link up with the group again.
Chelsea’s covid concerns
The Blues were hit with four positive results before last night’s match against Everton, meaning Callum Hudson-Odoi, Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner all sat out the 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge.
Ben Chilwell also tested positive, but he was never going to feature anyway due to his long-term injury.
Havertz was another absentee due to an illness, yet it appears the 22-year-old is available for Sunday’s Molineux meet-up.
“No more positive results at the moment. But the lottery starts again tomorrow morning or tomorrow afternoon,” said Tuchel.
“We are happy in the moment that Kai has had only one negative result so he is back in training. Let’s see.”
Having Havertz back in the side is a big boost for the Blues, who are scrapping to assemble a full-strength squad at the moment.
Bruised Blues
Covid aside, Chelsea have been swept away by injuries this season.
Tuchel explained that Jorginho and Ruben Loftus-Cheek were both doubts for the Wolves encounter, having started four of the last five league fixtures together.
Jorginho has been battling through back pain for some time, so it’s no surprise he is now suffering from the burden.
N’Golo Kante returned to the bench yesterday after his injury lay-off, although he was clearly not fit enough to play.
Mateo Kovacic’s isolation period finishes today, which gives him virtually no time to prepare for the next outing.
All these situations leave Tuchel with very few options in terms of team selection.
Who’d want to be a manager, ey?