Chelsea manager, Thomas Tuchel, has said new signing, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, would not be fit enough to make his debut for the club against West Ham.
Tuchel’s side host the Hammers at Stamford Bridge, with the Blues bidding to bounce back from our midweek defeat at Southampton.
Speaking at a pre-match press conference, Tuchel also revealed that N’Golo Kante remains sidelined but Mateo Kovacic could be in line for a start.
The German, however, said Ruben Loftus-Cheek had recovered from a tight hamstring which forced him off against the Saints at half-time.
He said. “They are back in training and both available,’ he said of James and Kovacic. ‘N’Golo is out but everybody else has been training.”
Following the transfer deadline passing with the arrival of Aubameyang and Denis Zakaria on loan from Juventus, Tuchel is happy with the squad size but revealed that the new duo would not be involved against West Ham.
“We have a group of 19 players, then with Auba and Denis it will be 21 players plus goalkeepers,” he added.
“Auba never missed training, he was never injured.”
The German also remembered Aubameyang when they worked together at Borussia Dortmund.
He said, “At the moment, Auba cannot train. We first have to make sure that he gets a mask to protect his jaw and then he can start trying with the mask from next week.
“Our latest news and understanding [on Zakaria] is that we need to have the work permit so he will not be in squad for Saturday. That is too close but maybe for Tuesday and then Fulham.”
