Chelsea will not be able to recall Tammy Abraham from his season-long loan at Swansea early in January due to the terms of the deal they agreed.

Coach Antonio Conte is already drawing up plans to strengthen his forward options in the new year after a disappointing start to the season, but Abraham won't be one of them.

Standard Sport understands that the only break clause Chelsea inserted was based on Abraham making a minimum amount of appearances, just to ensure he didn't spend the whole campaign on the bench.

If the England Under-21 international didn't reach that figure then they could trigger the option.

But it is believed he is already closing in on that amount after playing just 10 times and there are over two months until the window opens.

The 20-year-old, who is a product of Chelsea's Academy, has already scored five goals for the Welsh club and is considered key to their survival hopes.

He is highly rated by everyone at Chelsea, including Conte, and is being earmarked for a place in the first team squad for next season.

The England Under-21 international was given a new five-year contract in July before joining Swansea on loan.

It was felt that after starring in the Championship on loan at Bristol City last term, where he scored 26 goals in all competitions, he needed to be tested at a Premier League side before returning to Stamford Bridge to compete for a place.

In Pictures | Crystal Palace vs Chelsea | 14/10/2017 20 show all In Pictures | Crystal Palace vs Chelsea | 14/10/2017 1/20 Dan Istitene/Getty Images 2/20 Getty Images 3/20 Getty Images 4/20 Getty Images 5/20 Getty Images 6/20 AFP/Getty Images 7/20 PA 8/20 PA 9/20 AFP/Getty Images 10/20 PA 11/20 AFP/Getty Images 12/20 AFP/Getty Images 13/20 AFP/Getty Images 14/20 AFP/Getty Images 15/20 Chelsea FC via Getty Images 16/20 Getty Images 17/20 Getty Images 18/20 Getty Images 19/20 Getty Images 20/20 PA 1/20 Dan Istitene/Getty Images 2/20 Getty Images 3/20 Getty Images 4/20 Getty Images 5/20 Getty Images 6/20 AFP/Getty Images 7/20 PA 8/20 PA 9/20 AFP/Getty Images 10/20 PA 11/20 AFP/Getty Images 12/20 AFP/Getty Images 13/20 AFP/Getty Images 14/20 AFP/Getty Images 15/20 Chelsea FC via Getty Images 16/20 Getty Images 17/20 Getty Images 18/20 Getty Images 19/20 Getty Images 20/20 PA

The club always intended for him to see out the full season with Paul Clement's side so he could continue his development without the same pressure as playing for the defending champions.

But they could be rueing that decision with Michy Batshuayi struggling to provide effective support for top scorer Alvaro Morata.

Batshuayi has scored all five of his goals this term in cup competitions, but has proved ineffective in the League.

The Belgium international led the line in Chelsea's defeats to Burnley and Crystal Palace at the weekend, where he reacted angrily to being substituted in the second half.

Significantly, Conte opted to bring on Willian when Morata limped off in the first half with a hamstring problem during the defeat to Manchester City last month and waited until after the break to use Batshuayi.

Conte has picked Batshuayi in the first XI just three times in the top flight since he joined from Marseille for £33.1m.

The Italian wanted to buy Fernando Llorente from Swansea in the summer to act as the main back-up to Morata.

But the board hesitated to agree a deal for the 32-year-old and ended up being beaten by Tottenham to his signature on deadline day.

Conte is now hoping to buy another frontman in January instead, although it is notoriously difficult to find good talent that clubs are willing to sell at that time of year.

The former Italy coach wanted to strengthen his squad last January, but ended up only getting Nathan Ake, Charly Musonda and Kenedy back from loan spells.

Morata, who has scored seven goals following a £58m move from Real Madrid, is expected to return to action against Roma on Wednesday.

But wing-back Victor Moses is set to miss the next six games after picking up a hamstring injury at Selhurst Park on Saturday.