Watford News: Nathaniel Chalobah to undergo knee surgery with World Cup dream on hold

WATFORD midfielder and former Chelsea ace Nathaniel Chalobah will be undergoing knee surgery following a training ground injury suffered last week.

Nathaniel ChalobahGETTY

Nathaniel Chalobah on England duty

The 22-year-old had made a strong start to the campaign having moved to Vicarage Road from the Blues this summer, making three appearances.

The diagnosis is better than expected for £5.5million star Chalobah, who will still harbour ambitions of making it on the plane for the World Cup next summer.

“Whilst we can’t put an exact timeline on his recovery, we are expecting to see him re-integrating into the squad well before the New Year,” said Watford Performance Director Gavin Benjafield.

Chalobah was called up to the full England squad for the first time for the September qualifiers against Malta and Slovakia but did not make an appearance, and has 40 England U21 caps.

The midfielder returned to Watford after impressing on loan back in 2012, and since then has spent time on loan at five other clubs including Napoli in the Italian Serie A.

He made 10 appearances for Chelsea last season as the Blues stormed to the title, but had been vocal about his need to leave the Bridge in search of regular first-team football.

"Everyone knows Chelsea is very difficult," Chalobah said at a press conference after the move.

"Chelsea is a world-class club with world-class players, it was difficult for me to get in the team.

"As always I tried to stay focused and concentrated. Chelsea is in the past now."

When pushed on whether he got enough of an opportunity to prove himself at Chelsea, Chalobah added: "There's a lot of pressure on winning games.

“And sometimes to chuck a youngster in is not an easy decision for the manager.

“But I felt I gave my best when I was there. Now I've moved to Watford I've got the opportunity to try to showcase myself.”

Would you like to receive news notifications from Daily Express?