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Chelsea should be arriving on US shores any minute now but they will be one man down from the squad originally registered for the Guiness International Champions Cup. Well, technically they'll have Hilário with them to make 25 again ... but you know.
Tomáš Kalas suffered an injury during Monday's training and although he had hoped for the best, a scan this morning confirmed an unfortunate diagnosis. His left leg now adorned with a cast and a boot, Kalas had to stay behind as the rest of the team jetted off for the four-match tour of America.
The Czech News Agency is reporting the injury as a fractured fibula, meaning about a month on the sidelines for young Tomáš:
Podle prvních odhadů bude mimo hru asi měsíc. "Optimistický výhled je nejméně tři týdny," uvedl Kalas...
The optimistic view is "at least three weeks," but basically I think we can safely rule him out for all of August. Which is an incredible shame for someone who was hoping to use the tougher USA Tour to show José Mourinho that he is indeed capable of locking down a spot in the Chelsea squad.
An interesting sidenote to this story is the continued absence of Kenneth Omeruo. Last we heard, he was another young, promising center back who was rehabilitating an injury but he has yet to make an appearance for Chelsea this preseason or, in fact, even join up with the squad for training. At this point, we have to assume he'll be heading out on loan, despite his desire to prove otherwise.