Medical expert fears Werner could suffer ‘long Covid’ for ‘seven weeks’ after Chelsea news
Timo Werner may have returned to action for Chelsea but he could continue to suffer the effects of long Covid for up to seven weeks.
That is the view of medical expert Ben Dinnery, who runs the Premier Injuries site and has a background in injury and data analysis.
Werner came on as a second-half substitute in the 2-0 League Cup semi-final first-leg victory over Tottenham last night (5 December).
It was the German forward’s first appearance since 11 December after he tested positive for coronavirus along with several of his teammates.
As quoted by Chelsea’s media team last Friday (31 December), Thomas Tuchel revealed “Timo does not feel good” and is “struggling physically.”
Dinnery claimed that Werner’s return to play for the Blues does not necessarily mean he is fully recovered from the illness.
“When you talk about long covid, the symptoms are still apparent and felt after four or so weeks,” he told Football Insider‘s Adam Williams.
“With Werner, we’re not too far away from that. There’s not much research in terms of how it affects players respiratory systems in the long term.
“We had Jamal Lascelles and Allan Saint-Maximin who both suffered long Covid. Lascelles was about five weeks and Saint-Maximin was about seven.
“Once a player is playing, it doesn’t mean he is returning to optimum performance levels.
“For those teams who are playing in European football and domestic cups, how much real opportunity do you get to prepare for matches?
“You don’t get many sessions to push yourself and build fitness. Ideally, you might have kept him out a bit longer.
“But the demands of the current situation might explain why he has been brought back sooner.”
Werner has netted five times and supplied two assists in 15 appearances this term.
He suffered a calf strain that kept him out for the best part of a month between October and November.
In other news, Lukaku accused of being “overweight” by Thomas Tuchel behind the scenes at Chelsea.