Chelsea’s attacking options thinning, Brazilian striker may receive unexpected promotion

Nicolas Jackson is at the Africa Cup of Nations, Christopher Nkunku has a hip injury that could keep him out for weeks or maybe longer, and Mauricio Pochettino doesn’t seem to be the biggest fan of Armando Broja – at least going by his quotes from last night.

Things are getting critical up front for Chelsea, and we might see an extreme solution.

Right now, there are two possibilities which grow more likely with each passing day as our options dry up up top.

Firstly there’s the much discussed potential signing. We can’t see Victor Osimhen or Ivan Toney being remotely gettable this month, so it would likely be a cheap bargain, a veteran on loan or something along those lines. That seems the most likely path if Nkunku’s injury is bad and Broja continues to disappoint.

But the other solution is even more interesting – more minutes for Deivid Washington. He came on as a sub last night to replace Broja, and we reckon he will get more playing time over the two EFL Cup legs in the next couple of weeks.

If he impresses, he could be in line for an unexpected promotion.