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Mauricio Pochettino confirms £52m Chelsea player won’t be involved at all vs Manchester United

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Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino has confirmed one player who will not be involved for the Blues tomorrow night.

He claimed in his pre-match press conference that Christopher Nkunku will have to wait a little bit longer still to make his debut.

Recent weeks have seen Nkunku return to training first individually, but now with the rest of his teammates as his recovery took a step up.

Chelsea Training Session And Press Conference
Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images

His timeline back to the team has been mirrored somewhat by that of Romeo Lavia, who has also not been seen in a Chelsea shirt as of yet.

There were hopes that the Frenchman may well be involved in some capacity tomorrow night, with the big game against Manchester United a perfect opportunity to show his quality.

However, Pochettino has now confirmed he will not be involved at all.

Pochettino on Nkunku

He said: “No, no way. Hope so. He is not involved tomorrow. I think it is like we always tell you, it’s about assessing day by day.

“Sometimes we get excited and we want to have the player as soon as possible but I think we need to be careful.”

Following the match against Manchester United, fixtures on paper look set to get a lot easier for the Blues as they begin to come thick and fast during the festive period.

This could in fact work out as a more useful time period for the big summer signing, with there perhaps being more opportunities up against those sides than the big clubs.

The manager also confirmed in his pre-match press conference that while his recovery is going really well, Lavia will also not be involved tomorrow night.