While Nathan Ake’s recall, especially the last-minute nature of it, still doesn’t make 100 per cent sense — yes, it’s great that he’s back and we’re dipping into our own supply rather than the transfer market, but Ake had a great thing going at Bournemouth and he’s unlikely to play as much with Chelsea as he would’ve with the Cherries — it would appear that one of the motivating factors was Marcos Alonso’s “minor leg injury” that has been troubling him since joining the Blues in August.

Key reason behind Ake's return to #cfc-Alonso has been carrying an injury since he joined. Full story here: https://t.co/WWRnW7JwmX — Simon Johnson (@sjstandardsport) January 10, 2017

Does this mean that we signed Alonso knowing that he was hurt? Possibly. Though it should be noted that Alonso didn’t start playing until about three weeks after arriving on transfer deadline day and he’s acquitted himself rather decently at the left wing-back position ever since.

According to the report however, the injury’s been getting progressively worse in recent weeks, which could partially explain why Alonso’s form has tailed off a bit (though he’s not alone in that regard). Having a backup for him is not a bad idea regardless, and with Ake in the fold, we can change things up on the left flank in both an attacking (Pedro) and in a defensive sense (Ake).