Head coach Mauricio Pochettino has called on Chelsea winger Noni Madueke "to improve his level" when he is given chances over the Christmas and New Year period.
In January, Chelsea opted to pay in the region of £28.5m to sign the England Under-21 international from PSV Eindhoven.
However, Madueke has failed to establish himself as an important player in the squad, despite impressing on occasions towards the back end of 2022-23.
Under Pochettino, the 21-year-old has been provided with only 203 minutes of football in all competitions, with just 119 minutes coming across six outings in the Premier League.
There has recently been talk of Madueke potentially being loaned out to earn regular first-team football elsewhere at a time when his career has consistently been stop-start.
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Nevertheless, with a contract until 2030, facilitating a permanent exit would be difficult for Chelsea at a time when they have a need to improve their FFP situation.
Madueke has missed the last three Premier League games due to injury, but Chelsea announced on Friday that he has since returned to full training ahead of the meeting with Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Addressing Madueke's situation at a press conference on Friday, Pochettino hinted that the attacker needed to do more to force himself ahead of a number of players in the pecking order.
The Argentine told reporters: "I think from the beginning of the season, he was involved, then not involved, injured, and suffered some problem.
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"Noni is in a position where there is massive competition, there is too many player in that area. I think he needs to compete and improve his level.
"I think at the moment, he was injured, but now he has recovered, he may be involved in the next games."
Starting on Christmas Eve, Chelsea face a run of three fixtures in less than a week, a trip to Molineux to face Wolves being followed by a home clash with Crystal Palace on December 27.
Chelsea are then back in action on December 30 when they make the short trip to face Luton Town at Kenilworth Road in the lunchtime kickoff.
Darren Plant
