Chelsea have really struggled this season when they have been without their first-choice centre-forward Joao Pedro.

Pedro is Chelsea’s joint-top scorer in the Premier League alongside Morgan Rogers after netting five times in six outings. However, he has missed the Blues’ last three top-flight games because of injury.

Last weekend, Xabi Alonso’s side lost 1-0 to Sunderland at the Stadium of Light in Pedro’s absence. The weekend before that, Chelsea were able to beat Manchester United 2-0, but London rivals Tottenham Hotspur defeated them by the same scoreline the Saturday prior to that victory.

They were also beaten 3-0 by Brentford earlier in the season, the first game Pedro missed, although that was a separate injury the 25-year-old was dealing with.

Chelsea not thought to be in the market for a centre-forward

Following Pedro’s latest injury, Alonso has tried using Rogers and Pedro Neto as a false 9. It has not really worked, but it does not look like signing cover for Pedro in January is going to be a priority.

When asked on the Straight Outta Cobham podcast if there is any appetite to strengthen up front in January, Liam Twomey of The Athletic said: “I haven’t heard anything specifically yet. I mean, I think when they signed [Emmanuel] Emegha, there was a feeling that, long-term, his potential could be higher than Nicolas Jackson’s.

“Now, clearly, Nicolas Jackson is much better than him right now, and if Nicolas Jackson was at Chelsea, he’d probably be playing quite a lot right now, but I don’t really hold that against Chelsea. I think they, you know, it’s clear they sold their second-best striker last summer.”

While Chelsea do have Emegha, as Twomey mentioned, as well as Danny Welbeck, Alonso does not appear to trust either of his back-up options for the centre-forward position.

Welbeck did start in the loss to Brentford, but he clearly did not do enough to convince Alonso. He has not started in the Premier League again, with his manager preferring Rogers and Neto up front despite neither being a recognised No.9.

You now have to question why Chelsea signed Welbeck in the first place. It was always mentioned that they wanted to add more experience to their squad, which Welbeck brings at the age of 35 and with 408 Premier League appearances to his name.

But if Alonso felt the former Brighton & Hove Albion man was not going to be good enough to play in the Premier League, he should never have been signed.

Chelsea have been linked with Nicolo Tresoldi and a few other young strikers. But for now, that does not seem to be their priority in the transfer market.