One of Chelsea’s summer signings has confirmed he has suffered a major injury blow and is set to be sidelined for the next two months.
Omari Kellyman moved from Aston Villa to Stamford Bridge for £19million in June, becoming Enzo Maresca’s third signing for the club.
The 18-year-old is yet to appear in a matchday squad for the first-team but he has made three appearances for Chelsea’s U21 side and is viewed as a very important player for the future.
However, it will be a while before he makes his senior debut for the Blues after the attacking midfielder announced some bad news on social media on Sunday:
‘Gutted to have suffered a hamstring injury. Part of the game but I’ll be back stronger.’
Reports say Kellyman will be out for two months, meaning he’ll miss several big matches in the Premier League and Carabao Cup, as well as the start of the new Conference League league phase.
In September and October, Chelsea take on Bournemouth, West Ham, Brighton, Nottingham Forest, Liverpool and Newcastle in the league.
They’ll also host League Two Barrow in the Carabao Cup and begin their Conference League campaign with clashes against Gent and Panathinaikos.
Kellyman’s absence won’t be of great concern to Maresca however given his wealth of attacking options including Cole Palmer, Christopher Nkunku, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Joao Felix – to name but a few.
But the new Chelsea boss has seen several of his key players also suffer hamstring issues including captain Reece James and Romeo Lavia.
Malo Gusto also limped off during the 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace on Sunday, and it remains to be seen how long he will be sidelined for.
‘We will see what happens. It looks like a muscle problem and we are going to see,’ Maresca said in his post-match press conference.
After just one win in their first three league games, Chelsea sit 11th in the table.