Chelsea are exploring the possibility of recalling Emerson Palmieri from loan at Lyon to ease their injury crisis.
Thomas Tuchel wants the Italy international to cover the absence of Ben Chilwell, who will miss the rest of the season after suffering anterior cruciate ligament damage.
Emerson joined Lyon on a season-long loan in August, with the 27-year-old not considered part of Tuchel’s plans.
But the injury to Chilwell has prompted a re-think, with Chelsea looking to recall the left back as they weigh up potential short-term options. A loan move for Lucas Digne is also a consideration.
Tuchel said: “I don’t want to lie. We are looking into the situation because we have now a new situation with Ben Chilwell.
“One of the possibilities is a player we know and we love as a person, Emerson. But we need to check the details. We are discussing and reflecting and this will go on for the next days, maybe weeks.”
Chelsea’s problems have been compounded by Reece James suffering a hamstring injury in Wednesday’s draw with Brighton, while Andreas Christensen is a doubt for Sunday’s clash with Liverpool after hurting his back in that same game.
Better news is the fact that Thiago Silva has returned to training after straining his hamstring on Boxing Day, which puts him in contention to be involved. Timo Werner is still struggling with Covid-19 and will not be available.
Tuchel once again raised concerns about the pressures on his players due to the impact of Omicron and injuries. He warned even victory against Liverpool will not fix his problems.
He said: “You should not be naive and have the approach, ‘Yeah, we do this now’. Now is one win against Liverpool, which is always possible and always super hard.
“We will try for it but it’s not a situation where you go, ‘Okay if we win this then things will go’, because the situation around it, why we are in this difficult place, they will not change even if we win games.
“You can survive a match of course, but at some point it catches you, how will it not happen? And you have to be aware of it.
“We will push to the maximum to beat Liverpool, the day after Liverpool, no matter if we make it or not, the situation will catch us again because we are in this situation and that’s why we struggle and this will not go away with one win. But we will fight for the win.”
