Christian Pulisic could make his return to the pitch after nearly two months on the sideline after being named in Chelsea's squad to travel to Malmo in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Pulisic, 23, has not played for club or country since injuring his ankle in the USA's World Cup qualifier against Honduras on September 9. Indeed, he has not featured for his club since August 14 having tested positive for COVID-19 in what has been a disrupted season. Since hurting the ankle on international duty he has suffered several setbacks on his road to recovery from an injury that manager Thomas Tuchel initially set a 10-day recovery timescale for.
However, the US international returned to first team training last week and is now ahead of the schedule Tuchel had previously identified, meaning he will travel to Sweden with a Chelsea squad that has lost several important attackers. Mason Mount is sidelined with illness whilst Romelu Lukaku (ankle), Timo Werner and Mateo Kovacic (both thigh) continue to rehabilitate after their injuries.
"These four players are out unfortunately, still out. For Timo, Romelu and Kova no surprise. For Mason he does not feel really better. To stop any speculation, it's not COVID, he's just ill and does not feel good enough to take part in training or the trip to Malmo.
"The good news is Christian Pulisic is back in the squad for tomorrow."
Tuchel had previously earmarked Saturday's Premier League match against Burnley as a potential return date for the American international, who has been "really struggling" with multiple setbacks in his recovery from the ankle issue. News that Pulisic is now on the road to recovery will be welcomed by USA head coach Gregg Berhalter ahead of World Cup qualifiers against Mexico and Jamaica (available on Paramount+).