Conte hopeful of Baba Rahman option for Chelsea in January

Young left wing-back Baba Rahman has been out with a knee injury for all of 2017 after rupturing his ACL at the Africa Cup of Nations with Ghana. At the time, Baba was on loan at Schalke 04, who have remained in the picture as a potential loan destination. But after rumors during the summer, Schalke opted against taking him back and Baba stayed with Chelsea to continue his recovery.

It’s been almost nine months since the injury, but ACLs can sometimes take a fair bit longer for a full recovery. Fortunately, it sounds like Baba is getting close.

“My recovery is going well, hopefully, God willing by December I should be able to get some games at club level. I have been training but I still have some small pains in my knee. The medical staff are still working on me and I will be fully fit soon.”

“Not playing for all these months is not easy, especially if you are regular at the clubs you have played for. But certainly injuries are part of football and they are bound to occur once a while. In all, I just have to focus and come back even more stronger.”

-Baba Rahman; source: Graphic Sports via Ghana Soccernet

With Chelsea lacking some serious depth at the position, Baba could provide a possible in-house solution to the problem in January. After failing to impress then brand-new head coach Antonio Conte in 2016, the Chelsea boss has recently expressed similar sentiments for the left wing-back’s return.

“We are hoping that he [Baba Rahman] would be back before the year ends. He is an option [for us] and we are even short of men but we have to take it carefully because his situation was complicated.”

-Antonio Conte: source: Ghana Soccernet