Signing an eye-catching amount of players this summer – American billionaire Todd Boehly bankrolling the expensive overhaul – Chelsea's new-look team have not quite reached the heights expected of them on the pitch yet.
With Mauricio Pochettino in the Blues dug-out now also, instead of former Brighton boss Gareth Potter and dismal caretaker Frank Lampard both crashing and burning on the sidelines, there was an anticipation that Chelsea would deliver this season and aim for a much more positive position in the table after a dire 12th placed finish.
The Argentine head coach has unfortunately had his work cut out for him, despite the Blues splashing out on new acquisitions such as Moises Caicedo for a whopping £115m.
Chelsea find themselves in 11th spot at the time of writing, with new summer recruit Nicolas Jackson up top frustrating fans at Stamford Bridge with toothless displays in attack to pile on the misery.
The 22-year-old has only netted twice in the Premier League so far since leaving Villarreal, leading to murmurs that Chelsea could well swoop for a replacement in January already with former attacker Tammy Abraham tipped for a return to Stamford Bridge.
Jackson has missed seven 'big chances' in nine top-flight outings and is yet to prove himself to be a quality goalscoring option at this level, since his move to the club over the summer.
Chelsea transfer news – Tammy Abraham
Linked with a move back to the club who discarded him in 2021, according to a report from Spain, Pochettino's side would be getting a far different and more confident striker than the one who walked away from West London if he were to rejoin.
Finding his shooting boots once more under ex-Blues boss Jose Mourinho at AS Roma, after netting a meagre six goals in his final full season with Chelsea before the Serie A move materialised, it is a deal the West London club could be desperate to get over the line to add some much-needed firepower back into their game.
Abraham's numbers for Roma
Drawing similarities to Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink in style of play – with the ex-Chelsea great even stating himself that the 26-year-old marksman has shades of his former excellence – the Blues were left ruing their luck that Abraham would go on to become a potent finisher when swapping the Premier League for pastures new abroad.
In all competitions, the 6 foot 3 forward would net a blistering 27 goals from 52 starts in his first season in Rome – nearly eclipsing his 30-goal total for Chelsea in one singular season in the Italian capital.
Last campaign, Abraham did suffer from bouts of not finding the back of the net regularly however, only scoring eight times in the Serie A.
Overall, the 26-year-old has accumulated an impressive 36 goals from 107 appearances at the Stadio Olimpico which will have Chelsea wondering whether or not they should swoop in for their former academy talent, providing healthy competition to Jackson as a result.
The West London strugglers are not the only interested party however, with reports even suggesting that another of Abraham's ex-clubs in Aston Villa are sniffing around for Abraham.
It will be intriguing to see how this potential transfer tussle plays out in January, with Villa surely having the upper-hand in proceedings with Unai Emery's men in a far more impressive fifth spot in the Premier League standings at this moment in time than Chelsea's mid-table predicament.
Yet, former ties to his boyhood club could see the £96k-per-week finisher fancy a reunion with Chelsea. However, it remains to be seen how much it would cost to secure his services in January.
He is currently out with an ACL injury but his aforementioned statistics, in comparison to Jackson's struggles this term, suggest that he could be an upgrade on the current Blues forward upon his return if Pochettino is able to snap him up.