Cesc Fabregas is a big fan of the player, but he faces a spell on the sidelines.
Pochettino, however, is having to cope with numerous absentees, and goalkeeper Robert Sanchez is the only player close to a return. Full-backs Reece James and Marc Cucurella are still expected to be out for another month, Wesley Fofana is out long-term after damaging his ACL, and the timeline for Romeo Lavia is unknown.
Pochettino can unfortunately add another name to the list in a fresh blow that comes at an especially bad time.
Badiashile faces four weeks out
According to Nizaar Kinsella of The Evening Standard, centre-back Benoit Badiashile will miss the month with a groin problem. Badiashile had to come off late on in the win over Villa, and scans have revealed the injury is significant.
Badiashile will miss the visit to City and, crucially, the final against Liverpool. The first realistic return target may be the home match against Newcastle on 11 March.
Pochettino was hoping that Badiashile could strike up a strong partnership with Axel Disasi, but he'll now have to reconfigure his defence once more. He will at least be able to call upon Levi Colwill again after the Englishman returned to contention, while Trevoh Chalobah is also back in training.
Ball-player Badiashile is a dual loss
Badiashile only made his first start of the season in the League Cup against Blackburn on 1 November after missing the start of the season with a separate injury, and wouldn't make the XI for a league game until the 4-1 defeat at Newcastle at the end of that month.
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However, he's been one of Pochettino's favoured options lately, starting six of the last 11 in the top flight and 10 of the past 15 overall. Cesc Fabregas, a former Chelsea player and a teammate of the Frenchman at Monaco, regards him as one of the best young centre-halves in possession.
He said: “I played with [Axel] Disasi and Badiashile, Badiashile is one of the best ball-playing centre-backs in all the young players in Europe, there is a lot of quality and a lot of talent.”
The stats justify that assessment - among players with a significant volume of minutes, Badiashile has posted the third-highest pass completion rate in the Chelsea squad (90%) while averaging the second-highest successful pass volume (72.2) and the most progressive passes (4.03). Pochettino, then, will have to contend with his absence both on and off the ball in the next few weeks.