Chelsea leave Christopher Nkunku on the bench for today’s Premier League clash with Bournemouth.
Nkunku came off the bench to fire a fine winner in Wednesday’s 2-1 victory at Brighton, but the 26-year-old has only just beaten long-term knee and hamstring problems.
The £52million RB Leipzig signing has managed just three goals in 13 appearances in his injury-ravaged first term at Stamford Bridge.
But now that he is back fit, manager Mauricio Pochettino insisted Chelsea will handle him carefully.
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Nkunku settles for a seat on the bench against the Cherries on Sunday, as Chelsea already plot to ease him towards full sharpness for next season.
“He played more than we expect because of Mykhailo Mudryk’s injury against Brighton,” said Pochettino. “He played a little longer than we planned, so tomorrow we are going to assess him.
“We must not take any risks, so we will take the best decision for him first, and then for the team.
“We cannot take the risk because we want him to finish this season with good feelings and then be able to start the pre-season well.”
Chelsea will be without the injured Mykhailo Mudryk and the suspended Reece James when hosting Bournemouth in Sunday’s final Premier League outing.
Thiago Silva starts on his final game for the club.
Starting Chelsea XI: Petrovic, Chalobah, Silva, Badiashile, Cucurella, Caicedo, Gallagher, Madueke, Palmer, Sterling Jackson
Subs: Disasi, Bettinelli, Ugochukwu, Chukwuemeka, Nkunku, Colwill, Gusto, Casadei, Gilchrist
Suspensions: James
Time and date: 4pm BST on Sunday 19 May, 2024
Venue: Stamford Bridge
TV channel and live stream: Sky Sports
