Lyon head coach Laurent Blanc has sent a warning to Chelsea over their new signing Malo Gusto’s hamstring injury.
The London side signed Gusto from the Ligue 1 team in a £26.3m deal during the January window and loaned him straight back to Lyon for the rest of the campaign after he signed a seven-and-a-half-year deal at Stamford Bridge.
The 19-year-old, who came through Lyon’s academy and is a France U21 international, will provide competition for Reece James next season, who has missed large parts of the 2022-23 season with a knee problem.
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But Chelsea were left sweating when Gusto sustained a hamstring injury on Wednesday in Lyon’s French Cup 2-2 draw with Lille as he was substituted after just 33 minutes and he could now be set for a spell on the sidelines.
Lyon manager Blanc has now urged Chelsea to show ‘common sense’ over Gusto’s injury as he told French outlet L’Equipe: ‘We have a problem with Malo.
‘He injured his hamstring a few games ago and he recovered. He still has discomfort. You have to treat it well, but it’s not much.
‘I hope that Lyon and Chelsea will show common sense. In any case, he is not fit to play a Ligue 1 match, it is better to wait. But he could be on the bench.’
Gusto has played 18 games for Lyon this term and Chelsea will be hoping he continues his development before arriving at the club in the summer.
Gusto, who has made 57 appearances for Lyon in total, was one of seven signings the Blues made in January as they spent over £300m.
The west London club have now spent more than £600m in the Todd Boehly era after the American took over as owner from Roman Abramovich.
