by Mauricio Pochettino has expressed surprise at Gareth Southgate’s decision to play Ben Chilwell in England’s two games over the international break.
Chelsea left-back Chilwell played the first 67 minutes of Saturday’s 1-0 win over Brazil and Tuesday night’s 2-2 draw with Belgium, leaving him with a late knee injury.
Chelsea manager Pochettino said he did not expect Chilwell to be used so much, especially as the defender had only just returned from a knee injury which limited him to just one minute of Chelsea’s FA Cup quarter-final win on Leicester the previous weekend.
England manager Southgate has already been forced to decide to start John Stones from Manchester City against Belgium, the centre-back has to be withdrawn after 10 minutes and is therefore a doubt for his club’s match with Arsenal Sunday.
Of course, Chelsea’s potential title deciders are no longer a concern, but Pochettino confirmed Chilwell was nevertheless a doubt for Saturday’s visit of Burnley.
“Still we have to assess a few players like Chilwell, who came from the national team playing two games after not playing with us,” Pochettino said on Thursday. “He got a knock in his leg, in his knee, today he was not ready to train.
“We will see what happens tomorrow, if he will be available for the squad. We have to consider it.”
Was Pochettino surprised to see a player who was out through injury from late September to mid-December being used so much?
“He didn’t play after Brentford with us, he only played a few minutes against Leicester in the FA Cup. Yes, it happened that he started two games, maybe it was a surprise for us,” he said.
“But he’s very lucky because he got a dead leg at the last minute in the game against Belgium and now we need him to play for our club. That’s another bit of bad luck for us because we have to consider whether he can be available.”
Cole Palmer is expected to make the squad for the Burnley game after Southgate left the attacking midfielder out of the pair.
“I was talking to him, he was a bit disappointed because he can’t play or perform with the national team,” said Pochettino. “I think the first game had a little problem. He thought he could play in the second game against Belgium but he didn’t.
“He’s fine now, he’s been training well. There’s still one more training session tomorrow, but the plan is if it’s the same, he’ll be available for the game on Saturday.”
However, that was the only good news as Trevoh Chalobah, Carney Chukwuemeka and Robert Sánchez are already on an injured absentee list that includes Levi Colwill, Wesley Fofana, Reece James, Romeo Lavía, Christopher Nkunku and Lesley Ugochukwu. Lavía has already been told he will not play again this season – and fears England’s James will suffer the same fate and miss out on the European Championship finals.
The story of Pochettino’s first season at Stamford Bridge has been one of constant injury absences, a problem he has not had to deal with at previous clubs. “Before? No,” he said. “Something has happened after 15 years of being a coach.”
Fulham are unlikely to make Broja’s loan permanent
Fulham are unlikely to turn Armando Broja’s loan from Chelsea into a permanent deal this summer following Rodrigo Muniz’s Premier League progress during the second half of the campaign.
Broja, 22, was loaned to Marco Silva’s side on January deadline day in a package worth £4million depending on his appearances during his time at Craven Cottage, but his impact has been limited with Muniz now a striker first choice.
Muniz was signed in a £6.85million deal when Fulham were in the Championship and was loaned out to Middlesbrough last season, with second-tier clubs eyeing him during last summer’s window.
But following the departure of Aleksandar Mitrovic to Saudi Arabian club Al Hilal, Muniz has moved up above Raul Jimenez in the pecking order and has seven goals in his last seven Premier League games.
Broja, meanwhile, is yet to start a game since joining Fulham two months ago. He came off the bench four times but his longest appearance was a 16-minute cameo against Burnley on his debut when Fulham conceded a late equaliser.
He played Albania twice during the international break, coming off the bench in the win against Chile and then starting against Sweden in a 1–0 loss. He is set to be included in his country’s squad for the Euros this summer after they qualified on top of a group that included Poland and the Czech Republic.
Earlier in the January window Chelsea put an asking price of £50 million on Broja when they assessed his value against the market. They eventually let him out on loan but the deal did not include an option or obligation to buy him this summer. Having come through Chelsea’s Academy at Cobham, he will represent a net profit if sold this summer, benefiting profit and loss figures.
Muniz’s emergence eases the pressure to find Mitrovic’s replacement, although they could look at centre-backs like Tosin
Adarabioyo is out of contract and no deal has been agreed yet.
