Chelsea face Manchester City this weekend in a huge Premier League clash at Stamford Bridge, and Fabrizio Romano has now shared some major injury news ahead of the fixture.

Chelsea's injury struggles….

Like many sides this term, Chelsea have had to face the unwanted reality of injury struggles, which at times have forced Mauricio Pochettino's hand regarding team selection. Carney Chukwuemeka, Ben Chilwell, Trevoh Chalobah and Romeo Lavia have been among some of the more long-term absentees at Stamford Bridge. At the same time, Armando Broja has continually had to deal with injury niggles this campaign, leaving Nicolas Jackson to lead the line alone for much of this season, as per Football London.

Nevertheless, Romano has taken to social media platform X to issue some positive news surrounding summer signing Lavia, who joined Chelsea for a fee in the region of £58 million from Southampton in August, as cited by Sky Sports.

Explaining when Lavia could potentially return to contention, Romano shared quotes from Blues manager Pochettino on the Belgium international, which read: "Roméo Lavia, close to returning as he was training today. Hopefully next week he will be involved with the team, then assess when he can help the team."

Of course, the congestion around the Christmas period will require squad rotation as players are required to participate in a large number of fixtures within a relatively short space of time. Chelsea captain Reece James has recently made his return to first-team action, providing a major boost in SW6 as the Blues aim to climb the Premier League table.

Despite this, James asked to be left out of Gareth Southgate's Three Lions squad for their upcoming double-header against Malta and North Macedonia in EURO 2024 qualifying, which is something the former Middlesbrough boss has implied could count against him when he selects his squad to compete at the tournament proper next summer in Germany.

Now, another major Chelsea injury update has become apparent as their clash against Manchester City on Sunday at Stamford Bridge draws closer.

Christopher Nkunku injury update

Once again taking to social media platform X, Romano has confirmed that Chelsea attacker Christopher Nkunku is set to miss the clash against Manchester City.

Christopher Nkunku statistics for RB Leipzig – all competitions (Transfermarkt)

Appearances

172

Goals

70

Assists

56

However, the Italian journalist has also revealed a promising timeline for Nkunku's return from his injury struggles, as he stated: "Chelsea confirm Christopher Nkunku’s absence for Man City game — sources expect him back beginning of December."

Much anticipation surrounded Nkunku's arrival at Chelsea. Nevertheless, his struggles with a significant knee issue have curtailed any hope of seeing the France international turning out at Stamford Bridge thus far.

Judging from his performances in 2022/23, it is clear that Nkunku is a distinguished attacking force that will be a major asset to Chelsea when he pulls on the blue jersey, given that he averaged three shots, 1.6 key passes and 1.5 completed dribbles per match in the Bundesliga (Nkunku statistics – WhoScored).

For now, at least, Chelsea fans will need to wait a little while longer before Pochettino is able to unleash Nkunku at Stamford Bridge.