Sánchez, James & Lavia: Chelsea injury list and expected return dates ahead of Wolves clash

To say that Chelsea’s injury list ahead of the Christmas Eve game against Wolverhampton Wanderers is lengthy would be a slight understatement – Mauricio Pochettino must feel like he’s in a scene from a World War One movie every time he visits the physio’s room. News that Reece James will now miss at least three months following hamstring surgery will not have provided much Christmas cheer, either.

There have been some glad tidings this week, at least, with summer signing Christopher Nkunku making his belated debut as a substitute in the EFL Cup quarter-final win over Newcastle United while several other players are either back in training or edging closer to the point at which they can lace their boots back up once more. Any worries over Levi Colwill, who was taken off against the Magpies after appearing to pick up a knock, have also been allayed, with Pochettino confirming afterwards that his substitution was tactical and that he should be fine to play on Sunday.

Even with Nkunku and Colwill available, however, the Blues could well be without up to eleven players against Wolves – let’s take a look at the full list of walking wounded and see where each of them are with their respective recuperations.

Robert Sánchez (knee)

The former Brighton & Hove Albion goalkeeper hurt his knee ahead of the 2-0 win over Sheffield United last weekend and will now be out for several weeks, with Pochettino saying that the timeline for a return was unclear – “that's going to be for a few weeks, I don't know if two, three, four, five or six. We will assess day-by-day,” said the Argentinian head coach in an update that doesn’t clear too much up at all. Serbian back-up Đorđe Petrović will have to keep his gloves on for the duration of the festive period, at the least.

Ben Chilwell (hamstring)

The England left-back hasn’t featured since September after picking up a serious hamstring injury – but he is expected to return to first-team training over the next week or two ahead of a full recovery in January. No date has yet been set, but the former Leicester City man should be back in action sooner rather than later.

Marc Cucurella (ankle)

News of Chilwell’s gradual recovery will help to soften the blow caused by Cucurella’s injury – the hirsute Spaniard twisted his ankle playing against Everton and isn’t expected to play again until the beginning of March. The away game to Brentford could be his first game back.

Reece James (hamstring)

Following extensive assessments, the decision was made that James should undergo surgery on the hamstring injury that he sustained in that same game at Goodison Park. James will now miss three to four months following this latest setback, with April his earliest likely return date.

Wesley Fofana (ACL)

The anterior cruciate ligament injury that the £75m Frenchman suffered over the summer is still likely to see him miss the entirety of the season, although Fofana did say that his recovery was progressing well in November.

Trevoh Chalobah (hamstring)

Chalobah still hasn’t been given a return date since injury his hamstring back in August – the only update we’ve had since then is that he suffered a “setback” in October. The club haven’t provided any information on the 24-year-old’s situation since then, and we remain in the dark as to how bad his injury is.

Enzo Fernández (illness)

The World Cup champion was forced off against Newcastle with an illness, with Pochettino telling the press that “he suffered some problems in his stomach. He wanted to play and see if it went well. It didn’t.” We haven’t had any updates since, so the Argentine will go down as a doubt for the game against Wolves.

Lesley Ugochukwu (muscle)

The injury picked up in the win over Brighton was initially described as minor, but more than a fortnight on we still don’t have a return date for the young midfielder. The only update we have had from the manager since is that he hoped to have Ugochukwu back “soon.”

Noni Madueke (knock)

Madueke’s season has been interrupted by a string of minor injuries and setbacks, but it appears that he has recovered from the latest one – he is now back in full training, but was judged to be short of full fitness for the game against Newcastle on Tuesday. The England Under-21 international could well be ready to face Wolves on Sunday.

Carney Chukwuemeka (knee)

Still undergoing rehab at Cobham with no return date set after joining Chalobah in suffering an unspecified setback to his recovery back in October. The severity of the injury is unclear and the 20-year-old is another player whose status we have had very few updates on.

Roméo Lavia (ankle)

The young midfielder still hasn’t played for Chelsea since joining the club from Southampton for £58m in the summer, but he’s getting closer every day – he’s back in training and building up his match fitness gradually ahead of a debut. Whether that will come at Wolves is unclear, but he isn’t far from pulling on the blue shirt for the first time.