Chelsea have been a dealt a huge blow ahead of their Premier League opening clash with Brighton and Hove Albion on Monday, with Simon Johnson of The Athletic reporting that new signings Hakim Ziyech and Ben Chilwell are set to be absent through injury.
Former Ajax midfielder Ziyech is still suffering from the twisted knee injury he sustained against the Seagulls in a pre-season friendly last week, while former Leicester left-back Chilwell is continuing his recovery from a heel problem that kept him out of the Leicester side towards the end of last season.
Ziyech and Chilwell to Miss Premier League Opener
Frustration for Frank Lampard
The news will no doubt be a major source of frustration for both the Chelsea faithful as well as manager Frank Lampard, who will be looking to make a positive start to the new season after an active summer of recruitment.
The current window has already seen Lampard and co bring in six major summer signings at a cost of over £200 million, with Ziyech, Chilwell coming in alongside Timo Werner, Thiago Silva, Kai Havertz and Malang Sarr.
Such high profile incomings will only serve to raise expectations for a side that finished a respectable fourth last season, despite having been under the restrictions of a transfer ban last summer. As well as heightened expectations, there has no doubt been renewed excitement among the Chelsea fanbase, with talk of a potential title challenge continuing to build.
As such, the lack of both Ziyech and Chilwell for the start of the new season will somewhat dampen that belief, as Chelsea prepare to face Graham Potter’s Brighton.
Chance to See Other Debutants
It’s not all doom and gloom for the the Blues, however, with the exciting prospect of seeing former Bundesliga stars Werner and Havertz making their Chelsea debuts on Monday.
Hotshot forward Werner joined the club from RB Leipzig earlier this summer and has already impressed after notching in last week’s draw at the Amex. The Germany international will be looking to transfer his goalscoring touch to the Premier League, having bagged 28 league goals last season.
As for his international colleague Havertz, the 21-year-old is the club’s newest and potentially most exciting addition, and the £71 million man will be hoping to hit the ground running after a stellar season for Bayer Leverkusen.
With fellow attacker Christian Pulisic also in line to return to action following his unfortunate FA Cup final injury, there should be plenty of attacking talent on show on Monday evening.
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