Xabi Alonso’s admission that Chelsea are set to be without injured striker João Pedro for “a few weeks” triggered alarm bells across the fanbase.

The Brazilian, who has five goals and three assists in seven appearances so far this season, missed the 2–0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur because of a knee problem. It was the second game he has missed this season, the other being the 3–0 loss to Brentford. Those are the only two matches so far in which Alonso’s side have failed to score.

With that in mind, Chelsea fans would appear justifiably concerned as they head into a tough run of fixtures without their attacking talisman, but one man is looking to change that: Emmanuel Emegha.

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Emegha’s Quiet Start to Life at Chelsea

It was over a year ago that Chelsea announced the acquisition of Emegha to make him, at the time, the second player to make the move from Strasbourg since BlueCo’s acquisition of the French side.

Emegha finished the season with Strasbourg before heading to Chelsea in the summer. Left out of the Netherlands squad for the World Cup, he was among the first to work with Alonso and caught the eye during preseason, scoring in a handful of behind-closed-doors friendlies that fans did not get the privilege of watching.

By the time the squad hopped on a plane for their tour of Australia and Asia, however, Emegha was nowhere to be found as an injury forced him to miss out. The 23-year-old has not been seen since.

That could soon be about to change, with Alonso confirming Emegha will be “in the squad” for Wednesday’s Carabao Cup fourth-round clash with Liverpool.

“It's important that we have him available because he has special qualities,” Alonso said. “He has to feel fully fit.

“He’s been training for the last couple of weeks, 10 days, in a good way that allows him to build a strong base for his fitness and now gradually we want to see him and maybe [against Liverpool] he has the chance to play.”

What Will Emegha Bring to Chelsea?

The first thing fans will notice about Emegha is his physique. He stands at 6'5" but is far from a typical target man and leans more towards the likes of Erling Haaland or Alexander Isak with his combination of height and agility.

Movement is a key part of Emegha’s game. He makes excellent runs into the box and in behind defensive lines, begging for teammates to find him. His goals are rarely spectacular because they rarely need to be.

A two-footed threat, Emegha came into his own in the 2024–25 season when, under the guidance of Liam Rosenior, he struck 14 goals in 27 Ligue 1 appearances. Only five players in the division scored more, all of whom played more games.

Links to the Premier League surfaced that summer and cynics have suggested the only reason he was signed by Chelsea was to stop him joining a domestic rival instead. Newcastle United were strongly credited with interest on their search to replace Isak, adding the Dutchman to a shortlist that also included Benjamin Šeško, Hugo Ekitiké and Nick Woltemade. Clearly, they had a specific type of striker in mind.

Injury problems have plagued Emegha ever since his move to Chelsea was announced, restricting him to just four Ligue 1 starts last season. He did, however, still manage to contribute four goals before saying goodbye.

Emegha is, clearly, a different kind of striker to Pedro, who uses a telepathic understanding with Cole Palmer and Morgan Rogers to produce some devastating link-up play. Emegha is far less of a creator and will hope those around him can do the heavy lifting in that regard.

If Chelsea’s playmakers can figure out how to work alongside Emegha, in the same way that Diego Moreira and Dilane Bakwa did at Strasbourg, the results could easily soften the blow of Pedro’s absence.