Chelsea have battled through a spate of injuries in recent weeks, but have still maintained a chance of retaining their Premier League title. The media have tried their best to derail Antonio Conte and his Chelsea troops, so far though, they`ve failed.
With the majority of players having recovered from their injuries, the latest returnee is Victor Moses. Conte has said that the newly named Nigerian Footballer of the Year, will play no part in the game against Qarabag. That said he`s not far off full match fitness and it`s believed he could be in contention for Saturday evening`s encounter with Liverpool.
Since arriving at Chelsea in 2012 from Wigan for a fee of £10.35m, Moses has spent three seasons out on loan. Having had a relatively successful first season with Chelsea under the stewardship of Roberto di Matteo and Rafa Benitez. Jose Mourinho`s arrival saw Moses shipped out on loan. The Nigerian`s first loan spell was at Liverpool, under Brendan Rodgers. His 22 appearances returned just two goals.
Returning to Chelsea at the end of the season, he wasn`t back long before being sent off to Stoke City. With the Potters, his time was partially hampered by injury. However, his 23 games saw him score four goals and make six assists.
Moses was fortunate to be sent off on loan again in 2015-16, this time to West Ham United. Chelsea was not a great place to be that season under Jose Mourinho. The Nigerian was well out of it. During his time with the Hammer`s, he played 30 games, scored 3 goals and assisted twice.
Finally the arrival of Conte gave Moses the chance he was waiting for at Chelsea. It wasn`t until that game against Arsenal, when Conte changed Chelsea`s formation at half time. The 3-4-3 that the Italian coach adopted from that point on, was the making of him as a Chelsea player.
He made the right wing-back position his own, almost instantly. Moses participation as a first team player didn`t take off until after that Arsenal game. Prior to that he`d had just 56 minutes of Premier League action, in the first six games of the season. After that he was pretty much ever present.
Moses picked up Nigeria`s Player of the Year award at the weekend and has a nomination for BBC`s African Footballer of the Year. His rise from being a squad player to a major member of the starting XI has to be applauded.
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