Chelsea are anticipating good news on Christopher Nkunku ahead of next week’s huge cup tie against Middlesbrough.

That is according to today’s speculation.

Christopher Nkunku, 26, has missed the club’s last three games across all competitions with a hip problem. He missed the first few months of the campaign with a knee injury, too.

Remarkably, the £195,000-a-week attacker (Spotrac) has only made four appearances in total this season.

Apparently, the Frenchman may be fit and available for Chelsea next’s match. They host Middlesbrough next Tuesday night for the second leg of a Carabao Cup semi-final tie, with a 1-0 deficit to overturn from the first leg.

Photo by Chris Lee – Chelsea FC/Chelsea FC via Getty Images

The Northern Echo claims that Chelsea expect Nkunku to be available for the cup semi-final clash versus Boro.

It is explained that the 26-year-old forward will step up his training schedule this week in a bid to be available for the second leg in six days time.

Blues supporters haven’t seen much of him since his £52million arrival (Sky Sports) from German club RB Leipzig, but he’s one of the few players at Stamford Bridge with a CV of regularly scoring goals at a top level.

Mauricio Pochettino’s squad is finally starting to look a little stronger as more and more players begin to return to fitness.

We, along with most Chelsea fans, earmarked Nkunku as a key player for the 2023/24 season. Unfortunately, it’s not played out that way in the first half of the campaign.

It’s going to be a big boost if Nkunku can feature against Boro, even if it’s as a late substitute.

Journalist Ben Jacobs clamed via X recently that Chelsea believe Nkunku and a new No 9 can help transform the team in 2024.

It feels crucial to us that Pochettino’s side progress to the League Cup final, so it’s good news that players are returning just in time for the semi-final second leg.