UPDATE (Nov. 3, 9:30 pm ET) – Christian Pulisic's hamstring scare appears better than initially feared, with Chelsea manager Frank Lampard noting that the US men's national team star is already back training with the Premier League side after a "very minor injury."
Pulisic has been ruled out of Chelsea's Champions League game on Wednesday game against Rennes, but they also face Sheffield United on Saturday in league action. An exact timeline for his return hasn't been provided.
ORIGINAL (Nov. 2, 5:40 pm ET) – Christian Pulisic appears to have avoided a serious injury, but the Chelsea and US men's national team standout could be on the sidelines for at least a few weeks, Chelsea manager Frank Lampard revealed on Monday.
Pulisic sustained the injury during warmups prior to Chelsea's match against Burnley on Saturday, which the Blues won 3-0. Lampard reportedly said Monday that the 21-year-old is going to be out for a stretch, although the coach didn't provide an exact timeline.
"He’s played three games, we’ve tried to manage him in the week and it’s a small feeling in his hamstring so we’ll have to see how he is over the next 24 hours," Lampard said. "It’s a minor feeling that he had but definitely not right to go into 90 minutes of a game with that. Hopefully it’s short term, we’re talking weeks.
"He’s frustrated because he’s worked so hard to get fit.”
It's an unfortunate setback for Pulisic, who broke out with Chelsea during the stretch run of their EPL campaign last year, becoming one of the team's most dynamic players. However, he picked up a hamstring injury in the FA Cup final on Aug. 1 that kept him out for two months.
His stellar first season created a lot of buzz as to what he could do to follow it up, but this latest muscle injury will force us to wait to see what he has in store.
