Chelsea's aggressive recruitment strategy has caused quite a storm in the last 18 months but it has barely been able to keep up with the flood of injuries suffered by the west Londoners.
Across the opening weeks of Mauricio Pochettino's tenure, he has already lost a glut of players just as they were showing promising bursts of form, with the exciting teenager Carney Chukwuemeka the latest name on a growing list of absentees.
Christopher Nkunku was one of the stars of pre-season before he damaged his knee on a bobbly pitch against Borussia Dortmund in early August. The £52m recruit from RB Leipzig has had to undergo knee surgery and is set to be sidelined for "an extended period".
Club captain Reece James sustained yet another hamstring injury after an opening weekend draw with Liverpool. Pochettino reassured fans that the skipper would only be out for "a few weeks" but Chukwuemeka will join James and Nkunku in the treatment room after Sunday's Premier League meeting with West Ham United.
The languid 19-year-old has been a fixture of Pochettino's early tenure, playing a prominent role in pre-season and benefitting from Nkunku's setback to start Chelsea's first two Premier League fixtures.
After a solid display against Liverpool, Chukwuemeka demonstrated the promise that prompted Chelsea to pay Aston Villa £20m for his services in 2022, when he had just 321 minutes of Premier League football to his name.
Chukwuemeka only started twice throughout the entirety of his debut campaign in west London last term but, with the confidence of Pochettino behind him, began brightly against the Hammers. Jinking into space inside a crowded penalty area, Chukwuemeka blasted Chelsea level, cancelling out Nayef Aguerd's early header.
Enzo Fernandez had a penalty saved but arguably the biggest disappointment of the first half was the sight of Chukwuemeka crumbling to the turf holding his knee in first-half stoppage time. The 19-year-old required lengthy treatment before he was helped off the pitch moments before the referee blew up for the break.
Chukwuemeka sustained the only significant injury of his senior career just before last year's World Cup. The international hiatus only forced the teenager to sit out four games with a hamstring complaint. However, based on his lack of mobility immediately after the incident, Pochettino could be without another player for the foreseeable future.
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This article was originally published on 90min as Carney Chukwuemeka substituted with injury after scoring against West Ham.
