Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso has been left sweating over the fitness of leading striker João Pedro.
The Brazilian has been in dazzling form this season, starting life under the new boss with three goals and three assists in four Premier League games. Those performances earned him a recall to his national team after the heartbreak of missing out on the World Cup roster, but Pedro has since been forced to withdraw through injury.
Here’s everything you need to know about the striker’s condition.
What Injury Does João Pedro Have?
When Brazil confirmed Pedro’s withdrawal from the squad, there was no mention of a specific problem, only that he was “injured.”
Alonso refused to give too much away before Friday’s meeting with Brentford, but the biggest update we have had so far came from ESPN Brasil. The information is that Pedro is battling a knee problem, having sprained ligaments during Chelsea’s 2–2 draw with Hull City, in which he played the full 90 minutes.
Those details have already been sent over to Brazilian officials, who made the decision to drop him from their squad.
“He has moved on from the summer, he has moved on from the World Cup,” Alonso said of the striker.
“He has shown this desire, determination to have a great season so far. The summer is far away now. He will be [in the Brazil squad] in the future. I’m pretty sure he is going to be.”
When Will João Pedro Return From Injury?
Again, with no official word from Chelsea, we can only go off of the reports.
Pedro is expected to miss around three-and-a-half weeks while he recovers from this knee problem, which would be a major concern at any other stage of the season. A spot in Friday’s game against Brentford seems impossible, even if Alonso continues to insist otherwise, but Pedro then gets to spend the entirety of an inflated international break recovering.
To try and remove the constant international pauses, schedulers have combined September and October’s breaks into one superbreak, meaning Chelsea are not back in action until a visit from Bournemouth on Oct. 10, which just so happens to fall around three-and-a-half weeks after news of his injury was first reported.
Pedro clearly has a chance to be fully recovered in time for that Bournemouth game, although a minor setback could delay his return enough to force him out of that game. If that is the case, Danny Welbeck would be expected to start but Dutch international Emmanuel Emegha will also be knocking on the door after shaking off his own fitness issue.
A trip to Everton the following week, on Oct. 17, should be a comfortable target for Pedro.
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