When Nicolas Jackson hobbled off in the win against West Ham United at the start of February, it quickly became apparent to Chelsea supporters that they would be missing their main No.9 for a lengthy period of time.
If we fast forward a month-and-a-half to the present day, Jackson has missed a total of eight games for the Blues in all competitions and his absence has been very noticeable. "Sometimes I think you need to play games without players to realise how important they are," Enzo Maresca said just one game into Chelsea's eight-match run without the 23-year-old striker.
"We said many times about Nico: he is important on and off the ball," the Chelsea head coach continued after being beaten 2-1 in the FA Cup against Brighton. "Off the ball, his intensity is very good and on the ball, he is always a threat."
Maresca tried to find a solution to Jackson's absence, not helped by Marc Guiu picking up an injury in the same match as his teammate, but it proved difficult. In the end, Pedro Neto showed some much-needed quality as the No.9 and the Portuguese attacker has done very well all things considered. While it is certainly not a long-term position for Neto, his ability to thrive in an unfamiliar position when his squad needed him the most is hugely admirable.
With attacking players being shifted around in Jackson's absence, room was made for Christopher Nkunku, who was largely a bit-part member of the squad beforehand. In total this season, the 27-year-old forward has played 862 minutes in the Premier League and just short of 50% of those have come since Jackson was injured, in the space of five games.
However, the France international has hardly set the world alight in those matches. In truth, he didn't need to, not to that extremity, but he needed to show something. Supporters have become increasingly frustrated with his work out of possession; an element of his game that is worlds apart from what Jackson offers unfortunately.
Maresca has said on numerous occasions that he believes the former RB Leipzig player's best position is as the No.10 but we have seen very little evidence of that in this run of games. While the Frenchman has shone for the most part in the Conference League, he only has five direct goal contributions (three goals and two assists) in the Premier League this term - leaving many wondering if he is the right player for this Chelsea side.
Of course, it is worth noting, that this Chelsea attack has looked a shadow of what it was in the first half of the season. The absence of key players like Jackson and Noni Madueke has done very little to help that, but it is times like these where you need your key players, like the £52million signing who massively excited Chelsea fans at the time, to step up and be counted. Not only this, but at 26, he is one of the more senior players in an extremely young squad.
It does feel as if time is running out a bit for Nkunku. Jackson is due back after the ongoing international break and then Chelsea's attacking line will be reshuffled. Neto will likely move back to the left wing and with Madueke due to return, too, he is expected to come in on the right, with Cole Palmer of course in the No.10 role behind Jackson.
That leaves little space for Nkunku, with his Premier League appearances likely to be more from the bench for the final nine games of the 2024/25 season. He was strongly linked with a move away over the January transfer window, with Bayern Munich showing an interest and Manchester United, sources have told football.london, making a late enquiry for the Frenchman.
Chelsea chose to keep him - and that made sense given the amount left to play for in the season. In the summer, however, with more time - and options - to replace him, and not to mention the players the club are looking to bring in, we could perhaps see a more open stance from the Blues when it comes to selling Nkunku.