Trevoh Chalobah underwent surgery inside the Wembley dressing room following Naby Keita’s X-rated challenge in the Carabao Cup final.
The Liverpool midfielder’s high foot, which caught Chalobah in the groin, went unpunished by referee Stuart Attwell.
Chelsea legend Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink claimed Keita deserved to be sent off for the incident, with Chalobah questioning the decision himself, later tweeting: “Had to get stitches because of this. Referee is right there I don’t get it??”
Now Thomas Tuchel has revealed the gruesome details of the treatment received by the defender - admitting he was in agony in the dressing after the penalty shootout defeat.
“I could not believe what I saw after the match,” he said. “There was surgery literally in our dressing room and I am not joking.
“They were stitching him up. I could not believe it. After the match, after the press conference when I left they were doing the stitches. I just heard him scream.
“You could not look away. They had surgery. There were stitches. It was there. He was the only one with the doctors and I heard the noise.
“Seriously, it was a proper cut, very close to the area of the groin. It was open and it needed to be closed.”
Tuchel praised Chalobah’s bravery for playing on, adding: “It looked horrible and I could not believe he played one more minute with this kind of injury, but he played the rest of the match and scored a penalty.
“This is really big. I would say he has shown some balls, but that would be the wrong line... But he was really brave. Full credit to him.”
Tuchel confirmed that Chalobah is still hoping to be available for Wednesday’s FA Cup fifth-round tie with Luton, despite the injury.
He said: “We are working on it. He was very tough and he has my full respect.”
