Chelsea’s Ben Chilwell enjoys emotional training ground reunion

Welcome back, Ben! Chelsea left back Chilwell enjoys an emotional training ground reunion with team-mates and boss Thomas Tuchel after six months sidelined with an ACL knee injury

Ben Chilwell wore a big smile as he returned to Chelsea training on Tuesday
The English left back has been out with a serious knee injury since December
In videos shared by Chelsea, Chilwell is seen hugging his overjoyed team-mates

Published: 10:51 EDT, 17 May 2022 | Updated: 11:00 EDT, 17 May 2022

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Ben Chilwell could not stop smiling as he made a return to first team training at Chelsea after six months sidelined with a serious knee injury.

Chilwell suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury against Juventus in November and he had what was seen as season-ending knee surgery at the end of December.

Post surgery he vowed to ‘work like a beast’ in his rehab and seeing him return to the training pitch gave a lift to his team-mates, who applauded him out of the changing room and took turns to give him a hug.

Ben Chilwell was smiling and delighted to be back after returning to first team training

The Chelsea left back got a hug off team-mate Mason Mount after arriving onto the pitch

In videos posted by Chelsea’s Twitter account, Chilwell is seen with a toothy grin on his face as Mason Mount, Jorginho, Cesar Azpilicueta and boss Thomas Tuchel all showed their love for the left back.

With a basketball hoop set up at Chelsea’s Cobham training base he looked to ease into Tuesday’s session with some NBA-style shooting before transferring it back to football.

At one moment in the video he is seen chipping it off the backboard and into the hoop.

Chilwell’s absence has been felt by Chelsea, given they were left with only Marcos Alonso as a senior left back.

Chilwell was in fine form for Chelsea before picking up his injury, scoring in his first three Premier League starts of the season in a left wing-back position against Southampton, Brentford and Norwich.

Manager Thomas Tuchel also hugged Chilwell given he has been out of action for six months

Videos shared by the club showed the left back undertaking a number of small exercises

His form for Chelsea earned him a recall into the England squad after he was dropped by Gareth Southgate in September – and he scored for the Three Lions in a 5-0 win over Andorra in October.

The left back has spent recent weeks training with some of Chelsea’s youth teams before finding enough fitness to reunite with the senior side.

Even with the big smiles that greeted Chilwell’s return, it is considered unlikely that he will play any part in the two games remaining of Chelsea’s season.

Tuchel’s side, who need a point on Thursday against Leicester City to mathematically secure a top four spot, are looking to bounce back against the Foxes having suffered penalty shootout heartache in the FA Cup final last Saturday.

Chelsea will round out the season at home once more with already-relegated Watford the visitors at Stamford Bridge.