“A big loss” - Ashley Cole believes Chelsea are really struggling without injured £52m star

Chelsea icon Ashley Cole believes Christopher Nkunku's absence has affected the Blues' form in the Premier League.

The West London outfit signed the French international this summer from RB Leipzig for £52 million. He has certainly not had the start he wanted for his career at Stamford Bridge.

Nkunku suffered a knee injury earlier this month that will most likely see him sidelined until November. The French forward had a great pre-season for Chelsea, scoring against Fulham, Brighton & Hove Albion, and Wrexham in their respective friendlies.

Cole believes Nkunku's attacking output will be a huge miss for the Blues as he remains sidelined due to his injury. The former Chelsea left-back stated that the West London outfit have a problem on their hands in terms of goals.

He said on Sky Sports after the Blues' 3-1 loss to West Ham United on Sunday, August 20:

“I really feel it’s going to be a problem, in terms of goals. Whether Nkunku comes back quicker than we think, I don’t know. For me, he’s a big loss.”

Nkunku was in stellar form for former outfit RB Leipzig during the 2022/23 campaign, attracting interest from Europe. The French international scored 16 goals and provided six assists in 25 Bundesliga appearances for the German outfit last term.

Overall, he racked up 23 goals and nine assists in 36 matches across all competitions for Leipzig last season. It remains to be seen when the French forward will return to the pitch for Chelsea.

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"We need to accept" - Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino reflects on West Ham loss

Chelsea suffered a disappointing 3-1 defeat at the hands of West Ham United over the weekend at the London Stadium. Nayef Aguerd put the Hammers ahead within the first seven minutes of the encounter.

Carney Chukwuemeka equalized for the Blues with a first-half strike of his own as both teams headed into the tunnel at half-time, the score being 1-1.

Chelsea had a dismal second half after West Ham scored two goals, thanks to Michail Antonio and Lucas Paqueta. The Hammers were reduced to ten men after Aguerd picked up a red card in the second half. However, they still managed to take home all three points.

Following the encounter, Pochettino was asked whether the squad had a mentality issue. The Argentine manager responded (via football.london):

"I don't believe we can call it a mentality thing. I think today the result doesn't reflect the performance. In football, we need to accept that these kind of situations happen. I think the first-half was really good. Only disappointed and the players are really disappointed in the way we conceded the first goal because we start the game knowing West Ham are so, so dangerous in set-pieces, corners."