Chelsea have suffered another injury blow after Dario Essugo picked up a knock while away with Portugal’s Under-21s.
The midfielder, seen as Chelsea’s understudy to Moises Caicedo, felt a “muscle problem in his right thigh” during training, a statement from the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) confirmed.
Chelsea have already lost Levi Colwill for the majority of the season with an anterior cruciate ligament tear and have Cole Palmer currently sidelined with a groin issue, as well as Liam Delap, Romeo Lavia and Benoit Badiashile.
Now Essugo is also a doubt for Saturday’s latest west London derby away at Brentford. The 20-year-old moved to the Blues from Sporting for an £18.5million fee in June and will be joined at Stamford Bridge next summer by former team-mate Geovany Quenda.
“The Chelsea midfielder was excused from training due to a muscle problem in his right thigh, which he suffered after training,” read the Portuguese FA’s statement on Essugo.
“The athlete was evaluated by the Portuguese Football Federation’s Health and Performance Department and was declared unavailable.”
Essugo is still waiting for his first start since becoming a Chelsea player. His three appearances so far all came as a substitute at the Club World Cup in the summer, during matches against LAFC, ES Tunis and Palmeiras.
The defensive midfielder has been named on the bench by Enzo Maresca in all three Premier League games so far this season but is yet to come on.
