A bad season for Chelsea defender David Luiz has now gotten much much worse. The 2016 summer transfer window deadline day signing found himself frozen out in November, amidst reports that he is feuding with Chelsea manager Antonio Conte.
Someone who had earlier been described as a very important player for the Blues by Conte was not even given a spot on the bench for the season’s most important game, a November 5 home win over Manchester United. Luiz was reintegrated into the team, but he has not seen any action since November 22, in Champions League win at Qarabag FK.
His absence fueled more speculation about potential escalated and prolonged tension with the manager, but Conte revealed today that the Brazilian has a serious knee injury.
“David has a big inflammation in his knee, and we are trying to solve the situation with the doctor,” Conte said of Luiz today in his weekly news conference previewing the weekend clash versus Southampton.
“It’s important to assess the situation day by day, and to try to solve this problem. I don’t know when he’s able to come back with us but, for sure, with the doctor and the medical department, we are trying to solve this situation. The situation is an inflammation in his knee.
“The player is working apart [from the squad]. In the last days he was out to work in the pool. Today I saw him on the pitch, to try to run a bit, but very, very slow. I think that this is a serious problem, but we hope to solve this problem as soon as possible.”
Asked about how David Luiz is handling the situation, if it’s frustrating the player, Conte replied:
“I think every player is frustrated when he doesn’t play, especially when you have an injury. For sure, there is a lot of frustration for the injury. Every player wants to enjoy the training session, to try and put the coach in difficulty with his choices.”
“I understand because I was a player. When I was injured, for sure, my feeling was very bad. It was sad. You want to feel very well and then be available for the competition, for the training session, and to be in contention, but injuries are part of their jobs.”
There was already speculation that the second tenure of David Luiz at Chelsea was going to come to an end, and the injury will only heighten that.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune company’s blogging community Chicago Now.
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