Chelsea midfielder N'Golo Kante has returned to the Blues team, just in time for the return of the Premier League season.
The World Cup winner with France had been out with a knee problem since June. He had declared himself fit for the Europa League final, which the Blues won against Arsenal in Baku - however, he missed France's European Championship qualifiers against Andorra and Turkey earlier this summer.
He came off the bench to make his first appearance for Chelsea in this pre-season in a friendly that ended 2-2 with Bundesliga side Borussia Monchengladbach. The London club's goals came from striker Tammy Abraham as well as new permanent signing Mateo Kovacic.
Great to see this guy back! 💪#BMGCHE pic.twitter.com/eWjFkzDEMO
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) August 3, 2019
Speaking after the game, Chelsea manager Frank Lampard - who took over from Maurizio Sarri in the summer said, "that was always the plan. He's working a little bit now and it was just to give him the feeling of match time as he hasn't been able to do that yet as it's an awkward injury.
I just wanted him to feel it and us to see it as you cannot replicate it unless you do it. It was a good opportunity to do that for him and we'll work hard on getting him fit. Who knows if he'll be ready for next week or not, but we'll work hard for that.
"We also have to be a bit careful as he's played so many games over the past three seasons and we don't want to rush him back if it's going to be a negative. We'll do our best to get him back."
Chelsea's Premier League season starts with a trip to Old Trafford to face Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's Manchester United on Sunday, August 11th. It will be Frank Lampard's first competitive game in the charge of the club that he played with for 13 years.
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