Chelsea’s season in in serious danger of collapsing if they do not sign a striker and a midfielder this month.
The Blues are on the verge of Carabao Cup elimination, entering Thursday night’s semi-final second leg against Tottenham with a 1-0 deficit, and their 2-0 defeat to Arsenal on Saturday leaves them just three points clear in fourth.
Gonzalo Higuain is reportedly close to joining on loan until the end of the season, while the club have been linked with Cagliari midfielder Nicolo Barella as Cesc Fabregas’ replacement.
Maurizio Sarri even admitted he left Jorginho on the pitch against Newcastle even though he should’ve been removed, due to a simple lack of options.
It’s bizarre that the club find themselves in such a desperate position, given they have almost 40 players out on loan at various clubs.
Here, talkSPORT.com takes a look at some of the loanees who would be useful in the club’s current predicament…
Tammy Abraham (Aston Villa)
Tammy Abraham is the Championship’s top goalscorer despite missing the first six games of the season. That’s the kind of form which makes you sit up and take notice.
The 21-year-old was linked with a January switch to Wolves, but now it looks like he will see out his season-long loan at Villa Park.
Abraham can do it all: he operates mainly as a target man, but his pace and technique allow him to run off the shoulder.
In other words, he’s exactly what Chelsea are missing. And while he’s unproven in the Premier League, it’s surely got to be a better bet than Eden Hazard wasting away in a false-nine role.
Mason Mount (Derby)
Mason Mount, 19, has been a revelation on loan at Derby, building on his good work at Vitesse last term where he was named the club’s Player of the Season.
Although the attacking midfielder doesn’t represent an alternative to Jorginho, he would be more-than useful in the absence of the injured Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
The Blues are heavily reliant on Mateo Kovacic on the left of their midfield three, with Ross Barkley failing to impress when called upon in recent weeks.
Mount can drive from deep and, unlike Kovacic, contributes in the goal department.
Tiemoue Bakayoko (AC Milan)
Hear me out. Tiemoue Bakayoko’s debut season in England couldn’t have been much worse, I know.
However, he was poorly managed by Antonio Conte, who gave him no time to adjust to the intensity of the Premier League.
Look at his former Monaco midfielder partner Fabinho – after a shaky start, he was given time to adapt by Jurgen Klopp, and now he looks the real deal.
Bakayoko has breathed new life into his career at AC Milan, reminding everybody of the enormous talent he showed in France, and he would inject some much-needed power into light Chelsea’s midfield.
Lewis Baker (Reading)
Lewis Baker is something of a loan warrior: Reading recently became the sixth club he has been loaned out to during his Chelsea career.
At the age of 23, you wonder whether he will ever get his chance at Chelsea, and if not now, when?
Jose Mourinho, in 2014, said he should be blamed if Baker would not become a senior England international under his management, while former MK Dons manager Karl Robinson described him as the ‘hardest working player he has ever coached’.
Speaking after the Arsenal defeat, Sarri slammed his players for their attitude, describing them as ‘extremely difficult to motivate’.
He would have no such issue with Baker.