Chelsea are sweating on N'Golo Kante's fitness once again after he limped out of the 2-2 draw with Tottenham.
The 31-year-old's injury was overshadowed by touchline tensions between managers Thomas Tuchel and Antonio Conte, but it could have a far bigger impact on the club's season.
Kante has arguably been Chelsea's top performer across their first two games, excelling in midfield once again against Spurs on Sunday.
However, there are fears that he has chronic injury problems and he limped off with a muscle issue in the 85th minute at Stamford Bridge.
“It seems another muscle injury, the hamstring," Blues boss Tuchel said after the match. "He said he feels it pretty strong. So no good news."
Kante missed nearly 20 per cent of Chelsea’s matches last season and 40 per cent the year before. He hasn't been as robust since being asked to play through injury during the 2018 Europa League final against Arsenal.
He was replaced against Tottenham by Conor Gallagher, whom Tuchel admits isn’t in his best form.
"There is a little dip in his form and freshness which he suffers. On top of that, there's a huge competition with N'Golo, Jorgi[nho] and [Mateo] Kova[cic], who are used to playing with each other," Tuchel said on Friday.
Mateo Kovacic is also out injured at present with another recurring problem of his own.
"Kova is injured, unfortunately, and has issues with his knee," Tuchel recently stated.
With two midfielders struggling for fitness and one not at his best level, Chelsea are tempted to sign Frenkie de Jong from Barcelona despite the £71million cost and his reluctance to leave Camp Nou.
They are also thinking about the succession plan for both Kante and Jorginho, who will each see their contracts expire at the end of the season.
Chelsea have already signed 18-year-old Carney Chukwuemeka from Aston Villa for £20m this summer and are expected to make a fresh bid for Inter Milan midfielder Cesare Casadei, 19.
Kante has proven that he is among the very best in the world in his position over the last decade.
That's why there will be suitors for the France international, who is keen to line up for his country at the upcoming World Cup in Qatar, despite his fitness concerns.
Real Madrid, Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain, the latter of whom have long wanted to bring him back to his home city, have all shown interest in Kante in recent years.
But for Chelsea, there are serious questions about whether they can plan with him due to the physicality of the Premier League and how his body is reacting.
With £165m spent in the transfer market already, the new Boehly-Clearlake ownership group could yet dip back into the market to replace Kante. Chelsea have an ever-inflating wage bill and could opt to allow their £290,000-a-week midfielder to step away from west London next summer.
