Frank Lampard confirms extent of Chelsea star's injury
By Tom Gott
Chelsea caretaker manager Frank Lampard has confirmed that centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly is facing 'weeks, not days' on the sidelines after picking up a muscle injury against Real Madrid.
The veteran defender pulled off an excellent recovery challenge against Los Blancos but immediately went to ground in pain and had to be forced off.
Lampard has now confirmed that Koulibaly will miss this weekend's game against Brighton and the second leg against Real, even suggesting the Senegal international could be absent for a little while longer.
"He won't be available for either game," Lampard confirmed. "A matter of weeks rather than days.
"He's a very good, very experienced player. People talk a lot about our squad, Champions League squad is different to Premier League and a disappointment but also an opportunity."
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Lampard later confirmed that he will rotate his squad and give minutes to those players who did not play against Real, meaning the likes of Trevoh Chalobah and Benoit Badiashile, the latter of whom is not in the European squad, can expect minutes at the back.
Just how Chelsea's defence will look next season remains to be seen. Koulibaly is among those facing an uncertain future alongside Cesar Azpilicueta and Marc Cucurella, while the future of young Levi Colwill is also a pressing issue.
Colwill is on loan at Brighton but has enjoyed an impressive debut campaign in the Premier League. As 90min exclusively reported in March, Manchester City and Liverpool are interested in luring the 20-year-old away from Stamford Bridge in the summer, when he will enter the final two years of his contract.
Chelsea, however, believe Colwill has a future at the club and will seek to tie him down to a new contract, but the club are now operating on a policy which sees any player in the final 24 months of their deal in line for a sale if fresh terms cannot be agreed upon.
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