It's fair to say it's been an interesting couple of weeks at Chelsea Football Club once again.

With the club winless in five Premier League games, the first cracks have started to appear in a charge up the table to secure a Champions League spot for next season. The Blues currently sit fifth in the table having been overtaken by Nottingham Forest and Newcastle, but it's fair to say they're still ahead of where many expected them to be at the start of the season.

Back in the summer, Enzo Maresca joined the club following Mauricio Pochettino's departure, and there were concerns over how well a new manager would adapt at Stamford Bridge, particularly with a host of new arrivals in the squad over recent transfer windows.

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However, following the likes of Pedro Neto and Joao Felix's arrivals on permanent transfers, and the unusual deal to bring Jadon Sancho to west London, things started brightly for Chelsea. But there were still some concerns away from the pitch.

Trevoh Chalobah's treatment over the summer raised a number of eyebrows. Left off the pre-season tour of America with it being made clear that he was expected to leave the club, the academy graduate was then made to train away from the rest of the first-team. It's fair to say it was an unusual tactic, and brought plenty of criticism as the 25-year-old eventually agreed a deadline-day loan move to Crystal Palace.

At the time, Maresca was emphatic on where Chalobah stood within his squad. "The Trevoh situation for me is quite clear," the Chelsea boss said.

"We have Axel [Disasi] there, we have Tosin Adarabioyo there, we have Wes Fofana who in these two weeks has worked very good and is finally back, we have some very young profiles like Josh Acheampong who is doing fantastic.

"It's a sad decision but we have to take the decision."

Compare that to now, and the Chelsea boss is certainly singing from a different hymn sheet, with Chalobah arriving back at Cobham after what may be a long-term injury for Fofana, with Benoit Badiashile also currently out.

"The reason why he left at the beginning of the season, it was more to do with these kinds of problems, financial, these kinds of things," Maresca told reporters.

"It was not only a technical decision. We are sure he can help us now."

What it all means for Chalobah is unclear. While the centre-back took some time to get going at Selhurst Park after a muscle strain at the start of the season, he had become a serial starter for the Eagles, only missing two Premier League games since the start of October - one of which was against Chelsea, whom he was ineligible to face.

But it seems fairly clear that he will not have the same opportunities at Stamford Bridge. He was behind the likes of Adarabioyo and Disasi at the start of the season, and Acheampong has been starting the last few games in the absence of Fofana and Badiashile. Add to that the arrival of Aaron Anselmino, who also had his loan deal at Boca Juniors cut short, and the competition is stacking up once again.

It does look likely that Disasi could leave in January, but what does it say for Chelsea's squad planning when they have to resort to these tactics midway through a season? Disasi arrived for nearly £40million just 18 months ago; if recalling Chalobah is a better option than playing him, it does not paint the club's decision makers in a positive light - whether that be Maresca himself or the sporting directors above him.