Conservative Rehabilitation Doesn't Yield Any Progress, Chelsea Defender Ben Chilwell Undergoes Knee Surgery

JAKARTA - Chelsea confirmed that their full-back Ben Chilwell will undergo knee surgery this week.

The decision was taken by the club after the conservative rehabilitation efforts previously taken did not progress as expected.

"After a knee injury in the match against Juventus, the Chelsea medical team together with a knee specialist have taken the decision to undergo conservative rehabilitation," Chelsea said in a statement.

"Unfortunately, Ben has not made any progress and together we have taken the new decision to undergo surgery this week," the statement read.

An injury update on @BenChilwell. ️

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) December 28, 2021

Chilwell picked up the knee injury in their Champions League Group H match against Juventus on November 23.

The club did not provide an estimate for how long Chilwell would be out after surgery, given the 25-year-old defender has already missed nine Chelsea games in all competitions.

In the midst of Chilwell's absence, Marcos Alonso got a bigger chance of playing minutes than Thomas Tuchel to occupy the left wing-back position.

Chelsea currently occupy third place in the Premier League table, share 41 points like Liverpool and six points behind leaders Manchester City.

Very frustrating picking up an injury in a moment like this when I am really enjoying my football and playing in this team. I will do everything I can to get back on the pitch as soon as possible. Thank you for all the messages of support. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/JYvd2Vs13C

— Ben Chilwell (@BenChilwell) November 26, 2021