Enzo Maresca has admitted he’s not sure when Dario Essugo will return to action with the midfielder currently sidelined through injury.
Essugo underwent surgery on a thigh injury picked up during a training session whilst on international duty with the Portugal U21s.
The 20-year-old joined Chelsea from Sporting Lisbon in the summer for around £18m, and made his debut at the Club World Cup.
Enzo Maresca speaks on Dario Essugo return
Essugo was named on the bench for Chelsea’s first three Premier League games, but was an unused substitute, and will have to wait a little longer for his debut.
The midfielder was signed as a back-up to Moises Caicedo so Chelsea could give the Ecuadorian a rest as and when needed.
It’s been reported Essugo could be out until January, and Maresca wasn’t able to offer much in the way of updates when asked before Wednesday’s Champions League clash with Qarabag.
“No, I think he’s still out for a while, probably, I don’t know if the new year, I don’t know, January, December, January,” he told his pre-match press conference.
“Not sure yet, but we are already in November. As you said, yeah, Moi [Caicedo] is doing well. We have also Romeo [Lavia] that is covering that position. We have Andrey Santos that is covering that position.
“In some moment, we’ll use also, I don’t know, Josh [Acheampong], we’ll use Reece [James]. We try, as we always said, we try to find a solution when we miss players.”
Chelsea well stocked in midfield
Whilst the injury to Essugo is a blow, luckily for Chelsea they are well stocked in midfield and have multiple options.
Andrey Santos has impressed when given opportunities, and Romeo Lavia is once again fit and available in a huge boost.
Reece James was deployed in midfield against Spurs, so Chelsea have the options to cope with Essugo’s absence, although it’ll be interesting to see how he does once he returns.
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