Christopher Nkunku, a star for Chelsea, has praised Benoit Badiashile, a teammate and fellow countryman, after learning of the defender’s injury update before his expected comeback to the Chelsea senior team.
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The France international may be able to play in this weekend’s match against Arsenal, but his participation will undoubtedly be up in the air. The star is yet to appear for Chelsea under Mauricio Pochettino after missing all of Chelsea’s opening eight league games due to an injury, but he has recently resumed full-team practice.
By the end of last season, Badiashile had started ten of his 11 Premier League games. Under Frank Lampard, he solidified his position in the Blues’ starting lineup by even scoring the game-winning goal in a 3-1 victory over Bournemouth.
But his streak of victories was cut short by a hamstring injury, and he was forced to sit out the preseason as a result. Just before the 1-0 loss to Aston Villa in September, he came close to making a full recovery but was once more forced to miss time with a related problem.
However, he appears to be back and prepared to play again at this point, with the star intending to return after the international completely healthy. This week, Badiashile talked about practicing with fellow countryman Axel Disasi, saying the two are becoming into a great team.
“You learn how to react to things and see things a little bit better together by playing and playing,” he said. One of those things gets simpler with time. He continued, “When I arrived at the club, one of the first things I said was it was an honor to play with a legend like him. He is a great teacher for me.
Being right next to him, I question him a ton, to the point that I must start to irritate him a little. It’s because, like Axel indicated, he’s exceptionally intelligent and mature for someone his age.
To work with someone of that caliber is such an honor. Everyone who works with him gains from him, which enables us to perform at our highest level.
Prior to this weekend’s match against the Gunners, Badiashile updated his followers on his progress via social media. Badiashile shared two pictures of himself working out on Instagram with the caption “Back at it!” and an emoji of a fist. A number of his Chelsea teammates joined the Blues faithful in wishing him well as he recovers from the injury in the comments section.
One of them was Nkunku, who posted the emojis for “prayer” and “fire,” while full-backs Ian Maatsen and Marc Cucurella both replied, “Benitooo,” using the emojis “my g” and “love-heart-eyes,” respectively.