Carney Chukwuemeka injury: Progress & potential return date for Chelsea attacker

The only thing that can match Chelsea's expenditure on fresh talent is the number of players they've currently got on the injury list.

Sure, the Blues have spent an obscene amount of cash since Todd Boehly took the reins, but there's no doubt that they've been hard done by injuries, too. Although, it's hard to feel sympathetic for Chelsea supporters given their club's fetish for erroneous squad building.

Nevertheless, Mauricio Pochettino was dealt another blow when Carney Chukwuemeka returned to the treatment room so soon after recovering from a severe knee injury.

Here's the latest fitness updates on one of Chelsea's numerous absentees.

What injury does Carney Chukwuemeka have?

After four months on the sidelines with a knee injury, Pochettino was wary of putting too much strain on Chukwuemeka. The imposing midfielder skated through five substitute appearances unscathed before twisting his ankle in the middle of February.

Chukwuemeka had not even fully regained match fitness before staring down the barrel of another spell on the sidelines.

When will Carney Chukwuemeka return from injury?

When Pochettino offered a deliberately vague update on Chukwuemeka's fitness at the end of February - the manager would only say that the forward was "continuing to undergo his rehabilitation programme" - he delivered a note of caution that his player could have learned from.

Once he had returned to the training pitch in September, a month after damaging his knee against West Ham United on the second weekend of the new campaign, Chukwuemeka took to social media. "Thank you Jesus for making me fit and healthy again," he wrote. Yet, before Chukwuemeka made another competitive appearance for the Blues, he suffered a setback that delayed his return until January.

The west London outfit are confident that Chukwuemeka's twisted ankle is not serious and could welcome the rangy forward back as early as March.

What Chelsea games has Carney Chukwuemeka missed due to injury?

Ahead of Chelsea's Carabao Cup final against Liverpool, Pochettino claimed: "Being second is the worst thing in the world." By that logic, Chukwuemeka was fortunate to miss out on his side's chastening extra-time defeat to the Reds at Wembley.

After watching his teammates rescue three points against Crystal Palace from the bench earlier that month, Chukwuemeka damaged his ankle ahead of the trip to Manchester City's Etihad Stadium. Just as they did in normal time against Liverpool, Chukwuemeka's teammates held City to a draw.

How have Chelsea done without Carney Chukwuemeka and who has replaced him?

In an alternate reality, one where Chukwuemeka doesn't pull up against West Ham in the late August sun, Cole Palmer may never have joined Chelsea. The Manchester City academy graduate has admitted that he was reluctant to leave the Etihad and only signed for the Blues after his fellow England youth international was consigned to the treatment room.

Palmer may have been Chelsea's most opportunistic acquisition of the summer but he has unquestionably been the best. The ephemeral forward has been involved in almost 40% of the club's league goals this term, scoring and creating at a prolific rate despite the chaos unfolding around him.

Pochettino insisted that "things are changing" for the better ahead of a demoralising cup final defeat to Liverpool. Yet, the Blues are closer to the relegation zone than the Champions League places in a bleak Premier League table, with all of their hopes pinned on the FA Cup - a competition which the club may have been knocked out of by the time Chukwuemeka is fit again.

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