U.S. men's national team star Christian Pulisic will miss Chelsea's next three matches because of an ankle injury picked up in Honduras.
The injury forced the 22-year-old winger off the field during the USA's 4-1 win against Honduras in the third match of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying.
Pulisic had previously missed Chelsea's last two Premier League matches after testing positive for COVID-19 and now he is set to be out even longer, according to his manager Thomas Tuchel.
DECOURCY: How the USMNT pulled off the come-from-behind win in Honduras
"Unfortunately we have two players out, N'Golo Kante and Christian Pulisic, they both came back injured," Tuchel said in a press conference ahead of Chelsea's English Premier League match against Aston Villa.
"For Christian unfortunately he came yesterday on crutches, and we have an ankle injury with about 10 days."
After this latest ankle injury, since joining Chelsea in 19/20, Pulisic will have missed 305 days and 33 games due injuries and COVID. Yikes.
— MLS Transfers (@MLSTransfers) September 10, 2021
MORE: CONCACAF World Cup qualifying standings & schedule
Which Chelsea games will Pulisic miss?
As well as Saturday's Aston Villa encounter (Sept. 11), Pulisic will miss his side's opening game of the UEFA Champions League group stage against Zenit St. Petersburg (Sept. 14).
He will also be out for the away match against Tottenham (Sept. 19), but could potentially return for the Carabao Cup (League Cup) clash against Aston Villa on Sept. 22.
MORE: Pulisic's teammate McKennie to start for Juventus
Pulisic had a strong start to the new competitive season, coming off the bench to replace an injured Hakim Ziyech in the UEFA Super Cup and converting a penalty kick in the victorious shootout. Then he started and scored his team's second goal in a 3-0 win over Crystal Palace, the first Premier League match of the campaign.
However, the bout with COVID-19 interrupted his run and forced him to sit out high-profile matches against Arsenal and Liverpool. Although he was able to join up with his USMNT teammates for World Cup qualifying camp in September, he sat out the first game against El Salvador as he worked to regain his fitness.
Pulisic recovered to go the full 90 against Canada in Nashville and then started against Honduras, captaining his team in San Pedro Sula. However, the ankle injury forced him to depart the match in the 62nd minute with the score deadlocked at 1-1. The team still managed to come from behind and win 4-1, moving up to third in the CONCACAF qualifying standings.
