Conte confirms Pedro suffered ‘multiple’ facial fractures from Ospina punch

For the second time in his three-year career at Arsenal, goalkeeper David Ospina has left a Chelsea player injured. His first target was Oscar in a game during our Premier League title run back in 2014-15. This time around, it was Pedro at the receiving end of the keeper's reckless fists, but in a meaningless pre-season game in Beijing on Saturday.

Pedro was sent immediately to the hospital following the collision, to check for head injuries. After an initial all-okay and the plan to have him re-join the squad in Singapore, it was revealed that he also suffered facial injuries and he was instead sent back to London for further tests and treatment.

In his press conference today, head coach Antonio Conte confirmed that Pedro's injury was worse than first thought, with "multiple fractures" suffered. But, thanks to a protective mask, Pedro should be able to return to the training in ten days.

And thus, masked Pedro returns!

Photo by Chris Brunskill/Getty Images

It’s unclear how long Pedro will have to wear the mask this time around, but hopefully there are no lingering after-affects of this completely unnecessary injury. The pre-season games might “fake”, as Mourinho liked to say, but unfortunately the injuries are very, very real.

Get well soon, Pedrito!