Chelsea have confirmed that central defender Thiago Silva suffered knee ligament damage against Tottenham on Sunday. Wesley Fofana replaced the 38-year-old Brazilian after he limped off after only 19 minutes during the Super Sunday game.
Chelsea has not given an official timetable for his return, but reports suggest he could be out for up to six weeks.
“Having sustained a knee injury during the first half of Sunday’s match against Tottenham Hotspur, Thiago underwent further assessment and a scan on his return to the training centre on Monday.
“Scan results from those assessments have confirmed damage to Thiago’s knee ligaments and he will now work closely with the club’s medical department during his rehabilitation to return to action as soon as possible,”
a Chelsea statement read.
A six-week time frame would rule Silva out of Chelsea’s crucial Champions League last-16 second leg against Borussia Dortmund, and the defender would also be a doubt for the quarterfinals if the Blues advance.
Graham Potter’s team also has Kalidou Koulibaly, Trevoh Chalobah, and Benoit Badiashile as centre-back options, though the latter is ineligible to play in the Champions League.
Potter’s side are 10th in the EPL table, 14 points behind fourth-placed Tottenham, and have won just once in their last 11 matches in all competitions, scoring four goals in that time, while failing to win an away match since October 16.
The Blues’ defeat at Tottenham on Sunday increased the pressure on Potter, but the feeling is that changing managers now would be a step backwards, not forwards, for the club, especially given the investment made in new players and the formation of a new structure around the head coach.
Chelsea have spent more than 600 million pounds on 19 new players since the arrival of new Boehly-Clearlake Capital ownership at Stamford Bridge, including Argentina midfielder Enzo Fernandez for a British transfer record fee of 106.8 million.
