Huge boost: Two injured Chelsea players pictured in training today ahead of Southampton clash
FINALLY, Hakim Ziyech joined up with Chelsea’s first-team squad for training on Wednesday and could make his Premier League debut against Southampton this weekend.
The 27-year-old, who completed a £33million move from Ajax to Stamford Bridge this summer, sustained a knee problem in Chelsea’s pre-season clash with Brighton at the end of August.
The injury means Ziyech has had to sit out the Blues’ opening six matches of the campaign but the winger briefly trained at Cobham earlier this month before flying out to Morocco for the international break. Ziyech came on as a second-half substitute in Morocco’s 3-1 win over Senegal last Friday and made an impressive return as he assisted Youssef El-Arabi in the dying moments of the game.
The attacker then withdrew from Morocco’s squad as part of an agreement between Chelsea and the national side – and therefore missed their 1-1 draw with DR Congo on Tuesday evening.
Ziyech will no doubt be raring to go ahead of his potential competitive debut for Chelsea at home to Southampton and was pictured putting in the hard yards with Christian Pulisic this week.
Pulisic has also been struggling for fitness (hamstring) this season but made his return as a late substitute in Chelsea’s 4-0 victory over Crystal Palace two weeks ago.
‘It felt great. I had another tough injury, and it was really hard work to get back out there,’ Pulisic told CBS Sports when asked about his fitness earlier this week.
‘I’m really excited I got some minutes before the break. ‘Now I just wish we had a game sooner, to be honest. ‘But at least I’ll get a little rest.’
