International breaks can certainly be cruel to a specific club, and if you’re Chelsea FC, you’re obviously disheartened by the update issued from the France Football Federation. Four players withdrew from the Les Bleus squad, and two of them were Blues: Malo Gusto and Wesley Fofana.
“The defender underwent a medical examination upon arrival at Clairefontaine, France’s training base, on Monday. Today (Tuesday), the French Football Federation confirmed the withdrawal of Gusto and three other players due to injury,” the statement reads.
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Regarding Gusto, he has an ankle/foot injury, and we don’t know how serious it is at this point. Let’s put him in the doubt category for now.
In regards to Fofana, according to the French national team, he was “experiencing pain in his left knee.”
It does not seem likely that he’ll face his former team.
Elsewhere Jadon Sancho has not featured in the month of November yet, due to a knock and an illness, but it is thought that he should (emphasis on should) be fine for this one. Moving on, Levi Colwill withdrew from England duty for reasons unspecified.
Not much is known about his injury right now.
Staying with England, Cole Palmer missed out international duty this FIFA window, and it was clear he wasn’t quite 100% in the Arsenal match that preceded this international window.
Maybe he will be fine, and back at full fitness for this one? Finally, it sounds like Romeo Lavia could once again be dealing with serious injury woes.
Belgium manager Domenico Tedesco explained why Lavia didn’t feature in their last match.
“I think Romeo Lavia has a hamstring problem,” he said to RTL Sports.
“It was bothering him this morning and we didn’t want to risk him.” It doesn’t sound good, but stay tuned.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America and RG.org. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.