Mauricio Pochettino has suffered a brand new blow in his bid to solidify his place as Chelsea head coach with midfielder Enzo Fernandez ruled out for the rest of the season.
Fernandez has undergone surgical procedure on a groin harm that may rule him out of Chelsea’s last six video games, which begin away at Aston Villa on Saturday night time.
No choice has been made on Pochettino’s future previous this season, with the membership nonetheless believing there may be a lot to play for and Chelsea nonetheless capable of qualify for Europe.
But Pochettino wants a robust finish to the season to assist his case to remain on into the second 12 months of his Chelsea contract, forward of a summer time assessment, and dropping Fernandez will definitely not assist his trigger.
Fernandez had been managing his harm for a while which has clearly impacted his type, however the absence of the 23-year-old, who price £105 million, is one other blow to Pochettino who has been confronted with an harm disaster all season.
According to studies in Argentina, Fernandez had been affected by an inguinal hernia, an issue that impacts the groin area between the decrease stomach and the thigh, for over a month.
Fernandez, who was withdrawn within the thrashing by Arsenal on Tuesday night time, is hoping to be slot in time to play for Argentina on the Copa America in June and Pochettino had final week steered that his long-term health can be put over any short-term achieve.
Last week, Pochettino mentioned: “We are going to do what’s the finest for him. Again, we now have expertise of managing this example. First of all, crucial factor is him as an individual, not as a participant. It’s about how he feels and if he’s comfy with the state of affairs or not.
“We will all assist his choice [if he feels he needs surgery]. We usually are not going to drive him to do one thing. We are right here to assist and advise him of our evaluation and expertise. We don’t need heroes. No, we wish gamers that may carry out of their finest method to assist the crew obtain what we wish.”
With summer time signing Romeo Lavia additionally out, Pochettino is prone to must play Conor Gallagher in a deeper midfield function alongside Moises Caicedo for the rest of the season.
