Xabi Alonso Learns Emmanuel Emegha's Chelsea Return Date After Hamstring Injury Setback | OneFootball

New signing Morgan Rogers will also be hoping to make an instant impact after his £117m transfer. Video Credit: Absolute Chelsea

Emmanuel Emegha's expected return date from injury has been revealed after he was excluded from Chelsea's pre-season tour of Australia and Asia.

When Xabi Alonso's travelling squad was named, Emegha's omission raised eyebrows after he netted in both behind-closed-doors friendlies against Crawley Town and Bromley.

Having arrived from BlueCo sister club RC Strasbourg following a pre-agreement between the clubs, Emegha is now competing with Joao Pedro for a starting role under Alonso, with Liam Delap also amongst the ranks.

Emegha's signing is set to see Marc Guiu depart, whether on loan or permanently, should the club's valuation be met. Nicolas Jackson's future is also uncertain after he was not included for the tour, having returned from his Bayern Munich loan spell.

The reason for Emegha staying behind in England was due to picking up a hamstring injury against Bromley, a huge setback for the 23-year-old given his early promise.

Emegha missed several weeks of the 2025/26 season in France due to hamstring problems, so Chelsea will hope this will not be a recurring theme in west London.

After Chelsea flew to Sydney on Friday for two games in Australia against Western Sydney Wanderers and Tottenham Hotspur, it remained to be seen whether the forward would be available for the Asia leg of the tour, which sees the Blues play three games.

Unfortunately for Emegha, he will likely not be available for any of the overseas pre-season tour. As reported by Nizaar Kinsella of BBC Sport, the Dutchman is expected to be back in time for the start of the Premier League season.

He will now continue his recovery back at the club's Cobham training base and will be forced to watch on from afar.

Chelsea have one final pre-season fixture following the conclusion of their travels in Australia and Asia. They host Real Sociedad on August 15 at Stamford Bridge.

Whether Emegha will be in contention to offer Alonso and Chelsea fans a glimpse, he will hope he can get some minutes under his belt before the opener on August 24 when they make the short trip to west London neighbours Fulham to begin the campaign.

Cole Palmer is one Chelsea player who Alonso will be desperate to keep fit next season.  IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Another player absent from the tour is Geovany Quenda, whose move from Sporting CP was made official this summer after another pre-agreement.

He picked up a small injury, but is back on the bike. Emegha will hope to be able to link up with the rest of the squad should he be deemed fit by the club's medical team.

Chelsea have had their fair share of injuries over the past couple of seasons. Alonso will be keen to avoid similar issues in his debut campaign as he looks to have a successful first year.

Alonso will also see his squad strengthened in a few weeks when those who competed at the 2026 World Cup start to report back for duty.