Chelsea star Noni Madueke has suffered a small injury with his hamstring.
That has been confirmed by Blues head coach Mauricio Pochettino.
Noni Madueke, who had a busy summer by helping England win the Under-21s European Championship, is now back focused on club football.
Unfortunately, the 21-year-old attacker hasn’t played in any of the opening three pre-season games under Mauricio Pochettino. This included the fascinating warm-up match against Premier League rivals Newcastle.
Pochettino shared on Thursday that Madueke was absent from Chelsea’s 1-1 draw at home to Newcastle United due to a minor injury issue.
Apparently, the left-footed winger wasn’t risked because of tightness in his hamstring.
“Noni is in Philadelphia; he has a little tightness in his hamstring. It’s not a big thing,” Pochettino said, as quoted by the club’s official website.
“It’s only Noni that suffers [with an injury] but it is something that we think can be sorted in the next few days.”
Madueke is one of the players Frank Lampard recently tipped for a big future at Chelsea (‘Diary of a CEO’ podcast).
It feels like his absence at the start of pre-season has made everyone momentarily forget about him, and this injury setback won’t help his cause.
However, the English speedster was one of the rare positives at Stamford Bridge during the second half of the previous campaign when things got tough.
There’s certainly plenty of competition in the wide positions right now heading into the new season, but Madueke does bring something extra with his explosiveness and directness.
It would be great for him to get some minutes in either of the final two pre-season fixtures.
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