Chelsea’s preparations for Wednesday’s Europa League final have endured another serious setback after N’Golo Kanté suffered a knee injury in training which is expected to rule him out of the showpiece in Baku.
Kanté is understood to have twisted the knee while making a challenge in a session on Saturday and departed the pitch in clear discomfort, with Chelsea’s medical staff due to assess the joint on Sunday afternoon to ascertain the gravity of the injury. However, their initial impressions are believed to have been far from promising.
The France midfielder had missed the previous two games after sustaining a hamstring injury in the victory over Watford this month but had recovered sufficiently to resume training at Cobham early last week. Maurizio Sarri was confident the World Cup winner would be fit to feature in the final against Arsenal, with Chelsea’s squad due to depart for Baku on Monday afternoon. Those hopes appear to have been dashed, leaving Sarri considering selecting a midfield trio of Ross Barkley, Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic.
Kanté would become the fourth senior player ruled out of the final, with the other three in rehabilitation from long-term injuries. Antonio Rudiger suffered his own knee problems in the run-in and, having hobbled off after suffering a relapse in the draw at Manchester United, underwent surgery to repair the meniscus in the joint in his left leg.
Chelsea hope to have him available for pre-season, though that will come too soon for Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, whose ruptured achilles tendons required operations. Both would have featured for England in next month’s Nations League in Portugal.
Hudson-Odoi, so impressive since breaking into the team, fell awkwardly during a home draw with Burnley in April, while Loftus-Cheek saw his best run of form in a Chelsea shirt interrupted after he suffered his own injury during the team’s appearance in a charity match in Boston after the conclusion of the Premier League season. “I’m sure he will be able to return stronger,” said Sarri of the midfielder. “I don’t know the timing because it’s very difficult to say now: four months to six months.”
The final could yet prove to be Sarri’s last game in charge, with uncertainty persisting over his future at the club amid interest from Juventus in luring him back to Serie A. He has struggled at times to implement his footballing philosophy over the course of a first campaign spent outside Italy, with Marcos Alonso having admitted the period of adaptation has been difficult at times. Sarri’s playing career was limited to the lower level and he worked in a bank before committing to coaching full time two decades ago.
“It’s not been easy,” said the full-back. “Managers are different and have different views on tactics. He wanted to change the way [we play]. It’s never easy in the first year, to come to a new country and new league, new football, new culture,” Alonso said. “It is many different things. The gaffer is still learning, too. He was not a football player either, so he is learning a lot this year. He is different, but, at the end of the day, we have to be professional and take on whatever he asks of us. We have worked hard at it and done a great job qualifying for the Champions League. It’s been a tough but good year, and now we have a massive chance to win a trophy.”
