Chelsea injury update: Christopher Nkunku, Marc Guiu and Wesley Fofana latest news and return dates | OneFootball

Enzo Maresca hoping for double attacking boost ahead of last-day Nottingham Forest trip and Conference League final

Chelsea will hope to receive timely attacking reinforcements for a pivotal final week in their 2024/25 season.

Marc Cucurella headed home Reece James’ cross with 20 minutes to play to seal all three points for Enzo Maresca’s side at Stamford Bridge, bouncing back from their listless defeat at Newcastle that had halted their momentum from an impressive run of victories both domestically and in Europe.

Sitting fourth going into the final few days, Chelsea will hope to cement their place in the top five before moving focus quickly onto the Conference League final against LaLiga outfit Real Betis in Wroclaw, Poland on May 28 as they hunt their first piece of silverware under Maresca.

Nicolas Jackson remains suspended against Forest after his sending off at Newcastle but will be available for the final, while Jadon Sancho is back having been ineligible to face parent club Manchester United and captain James shrugged off illness to play on Friday. Mykhailo Mudryk remains provisionally suspended, meanwhile.

Here is all the latest Chelsea injury news and return dates with two massive games to finish an up-and-down season in west London.

Christopher Nkunku

Jackson’s three-game suspension for a forearm to the face of Sven Botman has been compounded by the absence of Nkunku, who has not played for Chelsea since the shock Conference League quarter-final second-leg loss at home to Legia Warsaw a month ago.

He was expected initially only to miss a couple of weeks of action with what his manager described as a small but unspecified issue.

Providing a new update on Nkunku before the visit of United, Maresca said: “Christo is close to coming back and training with us.

“I said two weeks ago it was a very small problem, ten days, two weeks. Probably next week he can start already with us.”

Potential return date: Sunday, May 25 vs Nottingham Forest (A)

Marc Guiu

As if missing both Jackson and Nkunku wasn’t quite bad enough, Chelsea have also remained without Guiu of late, leaving them with no available strikers at all and academy graduate Tyrique George fielded as a false nine on Friday, supported in attack by Cole Palmer, Noni Madueke and Pedro Neto.

The young Spaniard has scored for fun at times in the Conference League this term, but has not featured since the 2-1 win over West Ham on February 3 due to a hamstring problem.

But like Nkunku, it seems that Guiu could well be in line to return this week before the high-profile meetings with Forest and Betis.

“Unfortunately, Marc is still coming back from injury,” Maresca said on Thursday. “He has started to train with us recently but is not ready to start. So we are working on different options for Friday night in the absence of Nico [Jackson].”

Potential return date: Sunday, May 25 vs Nottingham Forest (A)

Aaron Anselmino

Chelsea fans may have thought they would quickly see £15.6million summer signing Anselmino in action after he was recalled early from a loan spell back at old club Boca Juniors in January.

However, the 20-year-old has been totally absent since then having been suffering with a hamstring injury during the latter stages of that loan stint.

Maresca has confirmed that Anselmino is not available, with reports that Chelsea are being cautious over a minor muscle complaint that will prevent him making the step up to the Premier League for now.

It could be that the teenager’s first Blues involvement instead comes in the inaugural expanded Club World Cup in the United States this summer.

Potential return date: Club World Cup

Wesley Fofana

Fofana’s rotten luck with injuries has sadly continued this season, having made a short-lived comeback from three months out with a hamstring injury before needing surgery in early April.

He was ruled out for the rest of the season and is also expected to sit out the Club World Cup.

Potential return date: Next season

Omari Kellyman

Like Fofana, youngster Kellyman has been plagued by hamstring trouble this season and also underwent an operation to end his season prematurely in March.

The £19m summer signing from Aston Villa has yet to make a single senior appearance for Chelsea.