Chelsea's Christian Pulisic 'Very, Very Close' to Return After Ankle Injury

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel said Tuesday that winger Christian Pulisic has struggled to overcome lingering pain from an ankle injury suffered during a Sept. 8 appearance with the United States men's national team.

However, the German coach added Pulisic is "very, very close" to rejoining the squad.

"He got injured during a match with USA," Tuchel told reporters. "It was a tough foul and he hurt his ankle. There is nothing to worry [about] in terms of that we are hiding details or not telling you details. I cannot give you all the details because I am simply not a doctor."

Tuchel also confirmed Pulisic won't be available for the Blues' UEFA Champions League match against Malmo at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.

"He is very impatient of course," Tuchel said. "He does everything and we can see him suffer in every meeting and every time we meet him here in our training center, he is really suffering. He wants to be on the pitch and help us. Everybody is doing their very best but unfortunately the injury takes its time."

Pulisic has only made two appearances for Chelsea during the early stages of the 2021-22 season. He helped the club beat Spanish side Villarreal in the UEFA Super Cup and then scored in the Blues' 3-0 win over Crystal Palace to open the Premier League term.

The 23-year-old Pennsylvania native was then sidelined after testing positive for COVID-19, however, and suffered the ankle injury upon his return to action with the USMNT.

He missed the latest round of World Cup qualifiers for the U.S., which included home wins over Jamaica and Costa Rica along with an away loss to Panama.

Pulisic's creativity in the attacking third was sorely missed by the Americans, who scored just four goals in the three matches.

While Tuchel is hopeful the playmaker can return in the near future, he noted the recovery process from ankle injuries can have a lot of stops and restarts.

"Once these players with these quick movements like Christian, once they feel this pain and are not free in the movement, the recovery is not happening so you start all over again," he told reporters. "You start all over again and reach a certain point and then the pain comes back and you have to do a little pause and start all over again."

U.S. head coach Gregg Berhalter will hope Pulisic is back in action before the next international window in mid-November with the side set to host rival Mexico on Nov. 12 and visit Jamaica on Nov. 16.

Meanwhile, Chelsea sits atop the Premier League table with 19 points (6-1-1) through the first eight matches on the strength of a plus-13 goal differential (16-3).

So Pulisic will likely have to earn a role within the in-form squad once he's cleared to return.