Chelsea’s Malo Gusto on return to Lyon: “My injury was more serious than previously thought.”

Chelsea defender Malo Gusto (19), who is currently on loan at formative club Lyon, has opened up on his return to contention.

The French U21 international right-back saw his first game back in months with Les Gones end in disarray. Against Marseille, Gusto came on at the 80th minute. He missed the opportunity to give the hosts a 2-1 lead and eventually scored a 92th-minute own goal which handed Les Phocéens an unlikely win against their bitter rivals. “It’s a bit easy to put the blame on me“, Gusto said in his pre-game press conference attended by L’Equipe. “But that’s how it is, I accept it. I have to redeem myself. I’m angry with myself over the chance I had, I had to do better.“

Gusto then rebuffed the suggestion that he had intentionally delayed his return to Lyon in order to get acquainted with his future Chelsea teammates. The 19-year-old sustained what seemed like a minor hip strain against Lille in a Coupe de France tie, back in February. However, according to Gusto, the injury he suffered was more severe. “I’m a Lyon kid, I always wanted to give my all to OL. So when I heard reports that I was delaying my return to Lyon in order to preserve my fitness for Chelsea, it hurts, because that was not true at all. In fact, my injury was more serious than previously thought.“

Barring any injury or suspension, Gusto has only six Ligue 1 games left to play with Lyon before his definitive transfer to the West London side. Lyon will travel to relegation-battling Strasbourg on Friday for the opening fixture of gameweek 33.

GFFN | Bastien Cheval