The Blues manager has already used several midfield combinations in the opening three matches of his tenure, all of which ended in victory.

That has seen Valentin Barco, Romeo Lavia, Malo Gusto and Reece James all start in midfield, while Moises Caicedo and Jordan Henderson will also be options Alonso can turn to once they are back to full fitness.

Combined with the young talent coming through the ranks of the Chelsea Academy, with the likes of teenagers Reggie Watson and Mahdi Nicoll-Jazuli featuring during pre-season, Alonso is pleased with the options available to him in the weeks and months ahead.

‘We have different qualities and personalities,’ he said. ‘Players like Valentin – he's young but has come with great energy.

‘We have Hendo who has the composure, the mentality. He knows what's going on in the game, and he's getting closer and closer to playing time.

‘And with Rom, Moi, Reece, Malo can play there, Watson as well, Mahdi from the Academy, we have options. We need to have the right balance and within that we have quality and competitiveness for all the season and to face each opponent.’

Those players will also enable Alonso to rotate his midfield as form and fitness dictates, something he hopes will help keep energy levels high throughout the season.

‘I think that this year, knowing that we won't have as many games, we are able to manage more minutes, to spread them around and to have a proper distribution depending on the games, depending on the momentum of each player,’ continued Alonso.

‘Hopefully, touch wood, they don't have that many setbacks because that's what you want from players, and especially from Rom, that he is feeling better, that we need to push him to have this consistency in his fitness level.’

We will have to wait until Sunday to find out which of those options Alonso chooses to use against the title holders Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.