Feel a little deflated hearing the news.

Speedy recovery lad.

To say this is disappointing is an understatement.  As noted above, it really does take the shine off a very good preseason.

I have no idea if it is really the pitch.  The video from @OriginalS clearly shows when his leg planted and the change of direction that caused this, but the pitch didn't give way (should it have given some movement?).  All speculative and just absolute rotten luck.

Chelsea are used to adversity.  Wishing Nkunku a healthy and speed recovery, and the rest of the team must press on from here.  Great chance for Mudryk, Chukwuemeka, Maatsan, Sterling to deliver.  I also wouldn't be surprised if Caceido came in and Gallagher was deployed further forward centrally. 

Edited August 8, 20232 yr by PhilH930

As I said before this is such a loss we have to reserve all the expectations for the season. Not as big as Liverpool losing VanDijk a few seasons back but very important anyway. You can't just buy someone to replace him.

Bollocks, was really excited to see his link up with Jackson this season

Will this is depressing. We have the worst luck. Hope he gets better soon

56 minutes ago, dkw said:

Its nothing to do with the pitch, its the collision between Hummells knee going "through" the back of Nkunkus knee that caused this. Why are people blaming playing the game, what do you want us to do, just train and have no pre season matches in case of injuries. Its an accident, its unlucky and sh*t but theres sod all that could have been done and apportioning blame is ridiculous.

How can you not see that it's the pitch that injured him. Hummels tackled his right leg but his injury is in his left knee. He jarred it doing that turn on that diabolical pitch. You can actually see him plant his foot and dust come from the pitch before hummels tackled him

Can see this reinforcing the desire to get Olise in as well now.

The good news is that this is pre season. So we have time to do something. That;s far far better than if it happened after the window closes. 

“Christopher Nkunku underwent surgery on his knee this morning and is likely to be out for 16 weeks - three-and-a-half months - before he can resume training. Unlikely to play before December. #cfc“

@mattlaw

Wow. December. That is incredible. 

The worst thing is that it puts a lot more pressure on our attack. It is the one area of the pitch that we struggled with last season and we needed the attack to click. Big pressure on Mudryk, Jackson, Sterling and others now

Awful news. He was such a bright spot in our play. To miss that much of the season is so typical of our luck of late.

26 minutes ago, evissy said:

You can't just buy someone to replace him.

I think we absolutely do have to buy someone to replace him. He’s in effect out for the season. By the time December comes, the seasons half gone and we will not be able to recover whatever we have lost and he’ll still have a long way to recovery. In January he’ll have zero match fitness and quite likely a mental battle to overcome to regain confidence in his knee.

An absolute f**ker of a start to the season and a question mark as to whether he ever recovers to the level he was at and whether he can ultimately reach the level he could have done. Knees are a nightmare.

Terrible news. Wishing him a full and speedy recovery. I think we will have to bring in another attacker before the window closes now. We have Broja close to a return but we have no idea how he will be after a long term injury too.

Fukkedyfukfukfuk 

The club must have known this for a few days at least, and the announcement backs that up as it seems he already had the surgery. I wonder if they were trying to keep this quiet while they worked to bring in a replacement?

38 minutes ago, WhiteWall said:

Can see this reinforcing the desire to get Olise in as well now.

He has just had a major Hamstring injury, not back before October either. 🤦‍♂️

Losing Fofana was bad, and I doubt we sign Axel had Wes not got injured again. 

Losing Nkunku is a huge blow as he was a key part to how Pochettino was setting us up to play. 

How good Axel replaces Wes remains to be seen, but who do we ask to replace Nkunku?

23 minutes ago, axman2526 said:

Losing Fofana was bad, and I doubt we sign Axel had Wes not got injured again. 

Losing Nkunku is a huge blow as he was a key part to how Pochettino was setting us up to play. 

How good Axel replaces Wes remains to be seen, but who do we ask to replace Nkunku?

perhaps this explains some of the rumours around the 1 year loan for Mbappe and the interest in Neymar

1 hour ago, The Don Antonio said:

How can you not see that it's the pitch that injured him. Hummels tackled his right leg but his injury is in his left knee. He jarred it doing that turn on that diabolical pitch. You can actually see him plant his foot and dust come from the pitch before hummels tackled him

So if Hummels doesnt steam through him you think he still gets this injury? It wasnt the pitch at fault, it wasnt the fact we played a game thats at fault, its horrible luck he got injured, but players get injured all the time, this is an impact injury plain and simple.

1 hour ago, forbzy said:

perhaps this explains some of the rumours around the 1 year loan for Mbappe and the interest in Neymar

Hope we can get the paperwork done in time. 

1 minute ago, Backbiter said:

Hope we can get the paperwork done in time. 

Transfer window is still open a few more weeks. 

Just a matter of time until Reece and Ben get injured again as well.

5 minutes ago, Zeta said:

Just a matter of time until Reece and Ben get injured again as well.

Heard they both went out for lunch and slipped in the rain, out until 2024.

3 hours ago, Snedger said:

I think we absolutely do have to buy someone to replace him. He’s in effect out for the season. By the time December comes, the seasons half gone and we will not be able to recover whatever we have lost and he’ll still have a long way to recovery. In January he’ll have zero match fitness and quite likely a mental battle to overcome to regain confidence in his knee.

An absolute f**ker of a start to the season and a question mark as to whether he ever recovers to the level he was at and whether he can ultimately reach the level he could have done. Knees are a nightmare.

Same as Wes Fofana. 130m on the injury table for most of the season

I don't know why some think Hummels challenge is what caused it. The video clearly shows that his left ankle and knee twists before there is any contact with Hummels.

It was the pitch that caused the injury. It was a risk for any player that likes to dribble.