Former Arsenal and Spurs striker Emmanuel Adebayor January target for Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink

Chelsea are considering offering Emmanuel Adebayor a short-term deal if they fail to land a striker in January. The Blues are looking to bring in a player and the former Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur striker has emerged as a back-up option.

Guus Hiddink has Diego Costa, Loic Remy and Radamel Falcao as the first choice strikers at Stamford Bridge. The on-loan striker from AS Monaco has struggled with injuries and is still out of action, having last featured in October.

According to The Times, the west London club have identified Leicester City star Jamie Vardy, Atletico Madrid's Jackson Martinez and West Bromwich Albion forward Saido Berahino as the first choice striker targets. Chelsea are planning to make bids for these players as they hope to land one striker in January.

Should they fail to land the above mentioned players, Hiddink will then turn his attention on Adebayor. He was not included in Tottenham's Premier League and the Europa League squad this season and was released from his White Hart Lane contract in September by mutual consent.

Adebayor is without a club after he was released by Tottenham. Togo coach Tom Saintfiet has admitted the striker is ready to return to the Premier League in January as he is looking for a new club in England's top flight club competition.

"I hope in the winter break he can find a club in the Premier League in England," Saintfiet told BBC World Service. "I think he is very motivated to prove, after what happened in Tottenham, that he is still a player who can add something to any team in England, and also other countries in Europe."

With Falcao's injury, Costa and Remy are the only two players to play up front. An injury to either of these two players will be a blow for Chelsea and Hiddink has suggested the west London club could bring in a striker to bolster his attacking options.

"We are thinking. We have to have good competition, good double occupation in every position. When there is good shape and the double occupation is there, then we are OK but we must not go into this danger when something happens with one or two strikers," Hiddink explained, as quoted by The Guardian.

"I don't deny that it would be a concern if Costa or Rémy were injured. I am thinking. And it's not good talk when you are thinking in this case because, why shall we go public? If, suppose something is going on, it can be harmful when you go public. Theoretically; that's what I'm saying at the moment."