The international breaks are usually nervous for clubs because they hope none of their stars pick up injuries while away with their countries. Unfortunately, the concerning news this week is that Chelsea’s first-team player has just suffered an injury problem.
Even in the early weeks of the 2025/26 season, Chelsea have already run into a few injury problems within their squad.
For instance, Levi Colwill picked up an ACL injury during the condensed pre-season this summer. As for Cole Palmer, he’s only played one of the opening three Premier League matches so far because of a groin problem.
Meanwhile, Moises Caicedo missed Ecuador’s match this week, but he’s expected to be fit for their next game on Wednesday.
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Chelsea midfielder Dario Essugo suffers unknown injury
Dario Essugo, who joined Chelsea for £18m (BBC) this summer, has been an unused substitute in every league match so far this season. Therefore, this international break felt like a good opportunity for the midfielder to get some minutes into his legs after joining up with Portugal’s Under-21s squad.
The worrying news for the Blues is that the Portuguese Federation confirmed Essugo has suffered an unspecified injury while with the U21s. They wrote: “Joao Veloso was called up to the Under-21s to cover for Dario Essugo’s injury.”
With Chelsea’s busy schedule just around the corner, we hope that Essugo’s problem isn’t too serious.
The reality is the 20-year-old defensive midfielder will be needed in the coming weeks to help navigate all the different competitions because Caicedo can’t be relied on for every single minute.
Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca has a “good feeling” about Essugo as a player. While supporters are desperate to see the summer signing in action for them, let’s wait and see if he faces any length of time on the sidelines.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall is the perfect example for Dario Essugo and Andrey Santos
Last season, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall showed what it means to be a superb squad player. The box-to-box midfielder was excellent whenever called upon by Chelsea, so it’s no major shock he joined Everton in the summer to go and play permanently.
For Essugo and Andrey Santos, it feels like an uphill task to nudge Caicedo or Enzo Fernandez out of the Blues starting XI. However, they both need to be ready to seize the opportunities that will eventually come their way.
We really like the Essugo and Santos profiles because the young duo look supremely talented. Now they just need Maresca to trust them.
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