Chelsea player with 18 Premier League starts is heading in the wrong direction – Rosenior could bin him

Joao Pedro’s window at Chelsea is closing, and the next few games will tell us a lot about his short term future.

He came in with a big impact at the Club World Cup, and gave everyone the hope that Chelsea’s striker troubles were over. But as time has passed, it’s become clear that he prefers to play as a number ten.

That’s all well and good. The problem is that Chelsea already have plenty of number tens. There’s an argument they have too many, even without the Brazil star. Meanwhile, they’re pretty short up front.

Liam Delap has missed most of the season injured, and has only just scored his first Premier League goal a week ago. Yet as far as we can see, he’s ahead of JP in the pecking order for Liam Rosenior. Delap may not score, but he puts himself about. That’s more than you can say for Joao Pedro at the moment.

JP losing ground in two positions

Joao Pedro protests a decision against Arsenal. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

With Enzo Fernandez, Andrey Santos, Cole Palmer and even Estevao Willian pushing for minutes at 10, and Delap a better option up top, JP is looking a little lost right now. Rotation and injuries will always mean he’s in line for fairly regular action, especially off the bench where he provides a good option.

But right now, it’s hard to imagine him being considered first choice. He’s got 18 Premier League starts and 3 sub appearances, so he’s featured in every game so far this season. We doubt that record is going to continue.

In other news…

West Ham are circling around the drain of the Premier League, and are getting desperate for solutions. They’re now sniffing around a player who Chelsea don’t even use.

Cole Palmer had his annus mirabilis under Mauricio Pochettino rather than Enzo Maresca and the stats show it clearly – but how much of that was actually down to the coaches?