The Blues shot-stopper has been out of action since the return with injury after playing at the World Cup.

Edouard Mendy has undergone an operation on a fractured finger after injuring it during training, the club have revealed.

The 30-year-old has been absent from the matchday squad since the Premier League’s return with Marcus Bettinelli taking his place on the bench instead. Mendy was replaced as first-choice keeper by Kepa Arrizabalaga once Graham Potter was appointed and has only played five times since then, all coming when Kepa was injured himself.

The statement says he will be working with the club’s medical department during the rehabilitation phase. The Senegal keeper is one of 10 first-team injuries for Graham Potter to deal with at the moment.

Potter saw Raheem Sterling and Christian Pulisic both go off injured inside the opening 20 minutes against Manchester City on Thursday and added them to a list including Reece James, N’Golo Kante, Ben Chilwell, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Armando Broja on the sidelines.

When asked about Mendy’s fitness before the game, Potter said: “He’s been training a little bit more than he was. He’s not fully fit at the moment but hopefully the next week or so he will make progress.” He played every game for Senegal at the World Cup, losing to England in the last-16 and also had a spell out injured in October after pulling out of his international camp then too.

Mendy has been going through his worst period of form since joining Chelsea in 2020 and hasn’t kept a cleansheet under Graham Potter, losing all four league games under the new boss, conceding five goals in the process. Kepa on the other hand has been in inspired form under the new manager but was widely criticised for his role in Manchester City’s goal at Stamford Bridge, appearing to pull out of blocking Jack Grealish’s low cross.

SOURCE: football.london