Injured Chelsea forward Liam Delap out until December
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has confirmed Liam Delap is set to be sidelined for up to 12 weeks with a hamstring injury.
The £30 million ($41m) summer signing from Ipswich Town sustained the problem during the Chelsea’s 2-0 win over Fulham prior to the international break, triggering a late scramble in the transfer market which ended with the return of Marc Guiu whose loan move to Sunderland was cancelled.
Chelsea attempted to call off Nicolas Jackson’s proposed transfer to Bayern Munich but the striker stayed in Germany, attempting to push through a move which was eventually revived and completed on deadline day.
“Liam I think is around 10-12 weeks [out] so a long way to go,” Maresca told a news conference on Friday before he was asked about Jackson’s rollercoaster end to the summer.
“Nico [Jackson], for me it is quite easy in terms of in this moment he is a Bayern Munich player. I sent him a message, I wish him all the best. Until the day he was here, he was very good, he was working well so I wish him all the best. That’s the only thing I can say.
“I didn’t speak with Nico. I think at the end if the club decide for something different [to try and cancel his move to Bayern], the club still has the power to do that.”
Chelsea have Guiu and João Pedro available to play through the middle in addition to Tyrique George, who replaced Delap against Fulham.
However, George was expected to then join Fulham in a £22m move which collapsed on deadline day.
Cole Palmer missed England’s World Cup qualifying wins over Andorra and Serbia and is in doubt for Chelsea’s Premier League trip to Brentford on Saturday.
“Cole took part in the session yesterday for the first time, not the entire session,” Maresca said.
“Today in the afternoon we have one more session. We are going to try with him and we see if he’s OK, otherwise tomorrow he will be out again.
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“It is not managing him, it is just recovery from the injury. For sure in the moment he is available we also probably need to think, to manage him a little bit because of the amount of games.”
Maresca also insisted news the club are facing 74 Football Association charges for alleged payments to agents will not prove a distraction for his squad.
“I know from the club that they are satisfied about the situation, about the process,” Maresca added.
“Personally I don’t have anything to add, first of all because I don’t have any idea to be honest so if I say something I can be wrong or right. I don’t have any idea. I just focus, like I always said, on pitchside, something that I can control.
“The rest is not in my hands. I don’t personally think the players are too worried about the situation.”