Chelsea winger Noni Madueke has been ruled out until after the international break due to injury.
Enzo Maresca confirmed earlier this month that the 22-year-old was set to “be out for a while” after sustaining the issue during Chelsea’s 3-0 defeat at Brighton & Hove Albion and is set to “be out for a while”.
The injury will see him miss Chelsea’s upcoming fixtures against Aston Villa (February 22), Southampton (February 25), Leicester City (March 9) and Arsenal (March 16), as well as their Conference League last-16 legs. Chelsea return from the international break to host Tottenham Hotspur on April 2.
“We don’t have any additional injuries,” Maresca told a news conference on Friday. “Noni probably will be out until the international break. The rest, Nico (Jackson) out, Wes (Fofana) out, Benoit (Badiashile) out, Romeo (Lavia) out, Marc Guiu out.
“Probably after the international break, we can have most of them or all of them back. For us, it can be a big boost.”
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Madueke will also likely be absent for Thomas Tuchel’s first games in charge of the England national team. Tuchel’s will face against Albania (March 21) and Latvia (March 24) in World Cup qualifiers.
Madueke was substituted in the 21st minute of the Brighton loss, shortly after making a long run down the right flank and crossing to Cole Palmer in the penalty area. The Englishman immediately went to ground and was treated on the pitch before being replaced by Jadon Sancho.
The former PSV man has scored seven goals and provided three assists in 23 appearances this campaign.
Chelsea are back in action on Saturday with the trip to Villa.
(Michael Regan/Getty Images)
