Thomas Tuchel says Pierre Emerick Aubameyang is likely to make his debut away at Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League, having overcome a facial injury with a customised mask.
The 33-year-old has completed a full training session with his new teammates after his £12million move from Barcelona on transfer deadline day.
Aubameyang travelled to Croatia with fellow new signing Denis Zakaria and his new teammates, with Thiago Silva rested and N’Golo Kante still injured.
“We decided with Thiago that he will have a break from the travelling and the stress after playing every minute so far in very intense matches." Tuchel said at Stadion Maksimir. "It was the moment to give him a break instead of putting him on the bench and having the travel issues. He takes care of his recovery.
“We had the opportunity to take everyone who was in training and available to Zagreb to do our last training. That included Denis and Auba. He had a test with his mask, felt fine, felt normal. If everything goes well today they will both be available.”
Adding about whether Aubameyang will start: "If there will come an issue today we will not put him of course. There was no issue yesterday. I hope there will not be an issue today.
"Is he ready to start? Of course. He cannot play 90 minutes. It’s on us to take a decision on how we manage the minutes. He needs minutes to get his full fitness and rhythm. It’s on us to find a solution if he comes from the bench or starts.”
Aubameyang’s injury was sustained in an armed robbery at his house in Catalonia before his transfer where he is said to have been hit in the face with a metal pole.
The Blues boss joked about his striker thinking that he is a superhero having celebrated his goals in a Spiderman mask at his former clubs.
“Don’t put any ideas into Auba’s head please! Any further ideas," he continued. "I’m pretty sure he has his own ones. When he scores he can celebrate. First of all, he needs to score.
“He’s very ambitious, very focused. He’s hungry to play for us and prove a point. That’s why he’s here, that’s what we felt from the first moment. He is happily invited to prove a point tomorrow.”
