Chelsea's Kante facing weeks out with muscle injury
The Hindu
N’Golo Kante went to ground with a hamstring injury in Chelsea’s 2-2 draw with Spurs before being replaced by Thomas Tuchel, who said the Frenchman could be out for weeks
Chelsea midfielder N'Golo Kante will be out for a few weeks due to a hamstring injury sustained during the clash with Tottenham Hotspur last weekend, manager Thomas Tuchel said on Friday.
Kante went to ground with the problem in the 2-2 draw with Spurs before being replaced and Tuchel was not optimistic about the French World Cup-winner's availability in the coming days.
"We're talking about weeks, which is not good news. We're disappointed and sad because N'Golo was super fit," Tuchel said ahead of Sunday's clash at Leeds United.
Tuchel added that striker Armando Broja and midfielder Mateo Kovacic would also miss the Leeds game with injury.
Chelsea completed the signing of Italian midfielder Cesare Casadei from Inter Milan on a six-year deal earlier on Friday, with British media saying they paid an initial 12.6 million pounds ($14.91 million) for the 19-year-old.
They have been linked with moves for Leicester City defender Wesley Fofana and Barcelona's Frenkie de Jong and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
"As long as the transfer window is open, there are always possibilities. The focus is on what we have, not what we could have," Tuchel said, before addressing potential departures before the window shuts on Sept. 1.
Asian Games champion Avinash Sable opened his season in the 3000m steeple chase with a silver in the Portland Track Festival, a World Athletics Continental Tour bronze event, in Oregon on Saturday. He clocked 8:21.85s. Asian champion Parul Chaudhary took the bronze in the women’s 3000m steeple chase in a season-best 9:31.38s. Former Asian bronze medallist Sanjivani Jadhav struck gold in the women’s 10,000m in 32:22.77s, a time which was a second off her personal best, while Seema was sixth in 32:55.91s.