It would be safe to say that Chelsea have their fair share of injury problems at this point in time. It started with Levi Colwill's ACL injury in pre-season training, which could result in him missing the entire campaign. Then, Cole Palmer pulled up with a groin issue in the pre-match warm-up against West Ham United and Liam Delap injured his hamstring against Fulham. Moises Caicedo also missed Ecuador's recent match.
The situation is already pretty bad to say the least. And now, one of their summer signings appears to have picked up an injury while away with his national team.
The player we are talking about is none other than Dario Essugo. The midfielder arrived at Chelsea this summer, although the deal had been agreed earlier, and he impressed everybody with his performances in pre-season. He appears to be a perfect replacement for Caicedo, if or when the Ecuadorian needs some rare rest.
Unfortunately, it appears that Essugo suffered an injury while training. As reported by Chelsea.news, a report from the Portuguese Football Federation said:
"The Chelsea midfielder was excused from training due to a muscle problem in his right thigh, which he suffered after training on Monday. The athlete was evaluated by the Portuguese Football Federation’s Health and Performance Department on Tuesday morning and was declared unavailable."
Chelsea summer signing injured on international duty
This is unfortunate news. It remains to be seen what the extent of the injury is. But options are clearly becoming low for Maresca.
Thankfully, Caicedo's issue is not believed to be a serious one and he should be fit to play against Argentina next week. But Romeo Lavia continues to deal with injury problems and someone like Essugo could actually get a decent bit of playing time this season, if he can remain fit.
One can only hope that this is not a serious issue for Essugo and only a precautionary decision on the part of the Portuguese Football Federation. Our best wishes are with the player, and hopefully, he will be back to full fitness as soon as possible.