The international break is coming to a close and players will be returning to Chelsea within the coming days, here are some of the latest headlines.
Nobody here at The Pride of London has been particularly shy when it comes to expressing how they feel about Chelsea players going out to join their respective national teams. This international break has been—as expected—quite a mess. Players from Croatia, Egypt, Uruguay, Ireland and a host of other nations have contracted Coronavirus. Further, injuries have begun to pop up left and right due to the extreme strain these matches played in close proximity have on athletes.
Chelsea has largely avoided the strings of bad luck and not all headlines surrounding the Blues have been bad. For example, N’Golo Kante scored France’s lone goal to down Portugal 1-0 and Jorginho has his swagger back when shooting from the spot. Here is a look at some of the other newsworthy notes involving Blues as the international break winds to a close:
Ben Chilwell’s back spasms
Ben Chilwell was removed from Sunday’s match against Belgium in the 38′. Chelsea supporters everywhere held their breath as the star left back hobbled off to be replaced by Bukayo Saka. The 23-year-old missed a few matches at the beginning of the season recovering from a foot injury he suffered back at Leicester City. For that reason, it was a bit worrying to see him hobble off while on international duty.
Luckily though, the injury appears to be nothing serious. The early report is Chilwell suffered back spasms during the match as a result of the excessive amount of travel he’s been doing. Just last month, the Blues went from Manchester to Krasnodar to Burnley in a span of a week, so it’s understandable the Three Lions trips were simply too much for him. Chilwell is unlikely to feature in England’s next game on Wednesday, his status for the weekend at Newcastle is still up in the air.
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Nearing decision day for Olivier Giroud
Olivier Giroud—who continues to be the key target man up top for France—has gotten very few looks for the Blues this season. Timo Werner’s emergence and Tammy Abraham’s resurgence have both kept the veteran No. 9 on the bench, despite his scintillating play toward the end of last season. The Frenchman has played in a total of six matches, racking up just 154 minutes and has one goal to show for his troubles.
Understandably, France manager Didier Deschamps is not too pleased. Deschamps even went as far as to question the striker’s place in the national team going forward if his minutes at the club level do not increase. Rhetoric such as this only serves to magnify the enormous decision the 34-year-old has coming up. Giroud can remain at Chelsea where his minutes will be scarce, but he will have an opportunity to win trophies, or he can leave. He’s nearing some milestone numbers in French football history, so the latter may win out. Giroud’s been flirting with a London exit for the last few windows, now he may actually depart. It’s undoubtedly something to keep an eye on as we inch closer to the winter window.
Asmir Begovic backs back-up keeper
Despite a rough last couple of months around Stamford Bridge, Kepa Arrizabalaga has received a lot of support from Chelsea faithful. Whereas the fans have not been so kind to the Spaniard, the club’s staff and former players have come to his defense. One of those players is former goalkeeper Asmir Begovic.
Begovic, who was the No. 2 behind the man Arrizabalaga replaced, reminded us all that a big transfer fee doesn’t always guarantee success. The Bosnian backed the 26-year-old to have a successful career, whether it be in west London or elsewhere. Arrizabalaga’s future hangs in the balance because of Edouard Mendy’s superb start, but he’s handled the spotlight and situation with class. Few know what the near future holds for the Spanish spot starter, a former goalkeeper with ties to the club may just be one of those individuals.
Timo Werner’s wonderful start
Remember when people were harping on Werner for struggling out of the gate, talking about how they don’t know if his game would translate to the Premier League? Good times. Werner recently netted a brace while back in Leipzig against Ukraine. The German striker’s two goals see him continue his scorching recent form. Werner should now be laughing at those who doubted him. Chelsea’s versatile, young forward has scored five goals in his last four appearances. The Blues superstar now sits at eight total goals and three assists across 12 games. I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t sound like a struggling striker to me.
What headline grabs your attention the most? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter!