Chelsea striker Joao Pedro has provided a positive update on his recovery from a thigh injury amid the international break.

The Brazil international sustained a thigh injury in the week leading up to the London derby between Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur in October. At the time, manager Xabi Alonso said the striker would be out for “a few weeks”.

Joao Pedro has since missed four consecutive games across all competitions for Chelsea. It proved troublesome, given that the Blues lost three of these four, having only managed to score three goals in this period.

The 25-year-old, who still leads Chelsea in goal contributions in the Premier League so far with five goals and three assists, has also had to skip international duty with Brazil for the second time this season. He previously withdrew from Brazil’s squad for the September- October international break due to a knee injury.

It remains unclear whether, like last time, Joao Pedro would recover in time for Chelsea’s return to action after the break. Chelsea host Leeds United in a Premier League fixture on November 21, so he has just over a week to be in contention for this game.

The good news is that the striker is clearly getting closer to a return. He recently posted a picture of himself in the gym and wrote: “Day by day.” In the photo, he also has a very noticeably shorter haircut.

Alonso has tried different options to fill the void left by Joao Pedro’s injury absence in the last few weeks.

In the Spurs loss, Morgan Rogers and Cole Palmer played as a front two, while in the following Carabao Cup clash, Danny Welbeck got the nod to start up front. 

Alonso then switched strategy after back-to-back disappointing results and opted for Pedro Neto as a false nine against Manchester United. It worked quite well as Chelsea secured a 2-0 win, but the same strategy backfired against Sunderland, with Neto, Rogers, and Palmer all struggling to make an impact.

Chelsea are running out of consistent centre-forward options to replace Joao Pedro. His return would obviously solve this problem.

As his numbers suggest, Joao Pedro is more than just a goalscorer for Chelsea. His link-up play and sharp instinct in the final third often open up space for his teammates, usually Rogers and Palmer, to exploit.

It is a bit concerning how the absence of one player has reduced the team’s firepower, but it also speaks volumes about how important Joao Pedro has become to this Chelsea side.