Chelsea Make Final Decision Over Emmanuel Emegha's Future | OneFootball

The latest on Chelsea's striker situation. Video Credit: Absolute Chelsea

Chelsea plan to keep Emmanuel Emegha as part of their squad this season despite his very limited pre-season involvement.

Emegha was among the players who were present on the first day of Chelsea’s pre-season under Xabi Alonso on July 10.

The 23-year-old even scored a couple of goals in Chelsea’s behind-closed-doors friendly wins over lower-league sides Crawley Town and Bromley in late July.

Emegha, unfortunately, sustained a hamstring injury during the game against Bromley. As a result, he missed out on Chelsea’s pre-season tour in Australia and Asia.

It was a big blow to his start at Chelsea. His spot in the squad was not guaranteed, and he had to spend several weeks recovering instead of proving himself in more pre-season games.

In the meantime, Joao Pedro, Liam Delap, summer signing Danny Welbeck and the returning Nicolas Jackson all had their chances during the tour.

Emegha, who joined from Strasbourg on a deal that was agreed in September last year, returned to training last week ahead of the final pre-season friendly against Real Sociedad at Stamford Bridge last Saturday.

However, he was once again absent from the matchday squad in the 3-1 win over the Spanish side.

There was no official explanation for his omission from the squad, but he likely had not fully recovered last weekend.

There is less than a week left before Chelsea’s season-opening game against Fulham in the Premier League on August 24, so a decision has to be made on the striker’s immediate future sooner rather than later.

According to The Athletic, Chelsea have determined that the former Strasbourg captain will be part of Alonso’s squad for the 2026/27 season.

This likely means Joao Pedro, Welbeck, and Emegha are Chelsea’s three strikers for the new campaign.

Marc Guiu, who was left out of the pre-season entirely, is unsurprisingly expected to leave. Another young striker, Dastan Satpayev, recently joined Championship side Burnley on loan.

Delap and Jackson have also been made available this window, valued at £50 million and £65m, respectively.

Delap has been linked with multiple Premier League clubs, while Jackson is said to have attracted interest from several clubs, including Aston Villa.

Chelsea’s reported decision to sell these two and keep Emegha would likely raise some eyebrows.

Emegha has struggled with injuries, mostly hamstring-related issues, since the start of last season.

He only featured 18 times across all competitions for Strasbourg last term, albeit with a decent scoring rate with eight goals and two assists.

The other expected backup striker, Welbeck, has a more reliable injury record, but is still a 35-year-old veteran.

While Joao Pedro had a stellar debut season at Chelsea last term, there is an argument that Chelsea may end up relying on him too much, which could hurt his performance.

The bright side is that without European football, Chelsea will have a more forgiving schedule this season.