Thomas Tuchel confirmed three injuries in his press conference today – to Christian Pulisic, Timo Werner and Romelu Lukaku. All of them will miss their next few games.
But later on, the coach also admitted that Hakim Ziyech would “maybe” be on “the sideline again.”
His injury isn’t as bad, but Tuchel revealed that he thought the winger was still suffering from the shoulder problem he picked up in the UEFA Super Cup before the season started.
Thomas Tuchel on Hakim Ziyech:
"It's maybe the sideline again. He fought his way into the team at the beginning of the season because of performance in pre-season. [The injury] cost him a lot. Maybe today I don't feel him 100 per cent free with the shoulders."
— Absolute Chelsea (@AbsoluteChelsea) October 22, 2021
Despite that, with numbers growing thin up front, it’s inevitable he will get more minutes even if he’s not “100%”, as Tuchel put it. Even when not injured he’s struggled for consistent form at Chelsea, and these next few weeks could be crucial for him.
On the other hand, with Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Callum Hudson-Odoi pushing for minutes, we could also see Ziyech slump so far back in the pecking order that his long term future starts to come into question.