Brighton major injury boost vs Chelsea as £25m star is back in training
Team news ahead of Brighton vs Chelsea
Brighton midfielder Mats Wieffer is back in full training and should be available to face Chelsea at the Amex Stadium on Friday night.
Wieffer, who joined Brighton last summer for £25m from Feyenoord, has not featured since his goal scoring display in the 1-1 draw at West Ham on December 21.
The Dutch international hobbled off with a knee injury at the London Stadium and missed the next seven Premier League matches.
Wieffer has only made four top flight starts for Fabian Hurzeler's team this season. He is not expected to start against fourth-placed Chelsea but could be used from the bench.
"Mats trained this week, he might be an option for the game, so we have to see how training is going today,” said Hurzeler in his pre-Chelsea press conference.
The update on another of Brighton's £25m summer signings, Ferdi Kadioglu, was not so positive.
The Turkey international was just starting to show his best form when he sustained a toe injury in the 2-1 loss at Liverpool last November.
The 25-year-old underwent surgery and continues his rehab but remains a long way off first team football.
"He's unfortunately still a long way off,” said Hurzeler to Sussex World. "It's still the same injury, so it seemed to be a small injury, but in that case it turns into a big injury, and therefore we have to go step for step.
"He's doing his rehab, he's doing a process, so it's all fine. There are no other complications about his injury, but it will take time until he's back on the pitch, unfortunately.”
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