It’s believed that Chelsea defender Wiley suffered an early week training knee injury and, as such, remains doubtful for the rest of 2024. How serious the injury is hasn’t been determined by Chelsea but close sources to the player are saying it might put him out for up to three months and possibly the rest of the calendar
The left-back has been with Chelsea since the summer, and his last games were quite mature performances that ensured him a regular place in the first team. Other than that, Ben Chilwell is also out for months, so losing Wiley was a bit of a blow to the depth of Pochettino’s defence.
Impact on Chelsea’s defence
This injury only leaves Chelsea with choice-limited options for left back. Chelsea have been seriously lacking rigidity at the back this campaign. And the latest news of Wiley doesn’t help.
An Argentinian manager may have to play other defenders out of position. It means that the left-back slot now can have a player like Levi Colwill or Renato Veiga. And reliance on youth academy prospects is well more than possible. An injury blow before Christmas can come as an almighty setback for Chelsea. During these times things are already pretty congested.
Chelsea will keenly be tracking the recovery of Wiley. They will be hoping that he will be back to his best form sooner rather than later. Maresca, on the other hand, is looking at one of two options. He can possibly look into the transfer market or reshuffle his tactics to compensate for this loss to the squad. It’s too early to say if this injury will now create more opportunities for academy players. But it definitely heaps more pressure on Chelsea to bolster their defence in January as players like Badiashile can leave in the January.
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