’Declared Unavailable’—Chelsea Lose Midfielder to Injury on International Duty

Chelsea have suffered another injury blow at the start of the 2025–26 season, with midfielder Dário Essugo sustaining a knock while away on international duty during the September break.

Enzo Maresca has already lost Levi Colwill to an ACL tear and have been forced to mitigate their previous two Premier League outings without talisman Cole Palmer due to a groin issue.

Fortunately, the player traders at BlueCo were at it again in the summer, with Chelsea adding 10 to their ranks in a bid to cope with a more demanding schedule off the back of last season’s qualification for the Champions League.

Among those signed was 20-year-old Essugo, who joined from Sporting CP for £18.5 million ($23.9 million) in June. Essugo complements a fairly busy midfield depth chart, and the young midfielder isn’t expected to play a major role for the Blues during his first in west London. The Portuguese earned 38 minutes of action across three appearances at Chelsea’s successful Club World Cup campaign, but is yet to take to the field at the start of his Premier League career.

In September, Essugo was called up to the Portugal U21s squad, but he’s since been forced to withdraw after picking up an injury.

“The Chelsea midfielder was excused from training due to a muscle problem in his right thigh, which he suffered after training on Monday,” the Portuguese Football Federation confirmed. “The athlete was evaluated by the Portuguese Football Federation’s Health and Performance Department on Tuesday morning and was declared unavailable.”

Essugo’s primary role this season is to provide cover for Moisés Caicedo, whose own international break has been plagued by fitness concerns.

The Ecuador midfielder sat out his side’s first game and was spotted training with a brace around his knee, although the belief is that this absence was more precautionary than as a result of a genuine injury.

Indeed, local reports suggest the decision has already been made to restore Caicedo to Ecuador’s starting lineup against Argentina, viewed as the more important fixture compared to the recent 0–0 draw with Paraguay.