Chelsea submit bid for “unplayable” £64m striker

Chelsea supporters may have been left confused when the team news dropped for the game against Brentford on Sunday, as several stars were left out of the side.

Despite the Blues not being in action again until Thursday, against Legia Warsaw, Enzo Maresca left Marc Cucurella, Cole Palmer, Nicolas Jackson, and Pedro Neto on the bench from the start.

Those decisions contributed to a toothless and uninspiring performance from the Blues, who are now just two points ahead of Aston Villa in sixth place after the weekend’s results.

Chelsea have, now, scored three goals in their last five matches in all competitions, failing to score more than one in any, and their lack of a clinical, reliable, number nine has been an issue.

Christopher Nkunku has scored one in his last 11 matches for the Blues and Jackson, who recently returned from injury, has gone ten games without a goal.

The London giants need a consistent, ruthless, centre-forward to fire them to glory, which is what Manchester City found when they signed Erling Haaland in the summer of 2022.

Why Chelsea need their own Erling Haaland

The Cityzens reportedly agreed a deal worth £51m to sign the Norway international from Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund ahead of the 2022/23 campaign, and that has turned out to be a bargain.

To date, the left-footed monster has scored 120 goals and provided 19 assists in 138 matches in all competitions for City, including 84 goals in 94 Premier League outings.

The Norwegian superstar hit the ground running in England, where he was born, with one of the best individual seasons in the history of the Premier League, scoring 36 goals and providing eight assists in 33 starts.

His tally of 36 goals broke the record for the most goals scored in a single Premier League season, previously stood at 34, and led City to the top-flight title.

As you can see in the table above, the 24-year-old marksman has delivered an exceptional number of goals in every season he has played for Pep Guardiola’s team to date.

The former Dortmund star has also delivered in big games, scoring six goals in eight games against Manchester United and four goals in six matches against Chelsea, to be a difference-maker for City against their rivals.

This is why the Blues must try to find their own version of Haaland in the upcoming summer transfer window, because Nkunku and Jackson’s recent form shows that the club does not currently have a number nine who can be relied on week-in-week-out.

Maresca could be on the right track to finding his answer to the Manchester City superstar, though, as Chelsea have reportedly made a move to sign a new forward.

Chelsea submit bid for prolific striker

According to a report from Spain, Chelsea are one of a number of clubs interested in a deal to sign Sporting centre-forward Viktor Gyokeres in the summer transfer window.

The report claims that they have submitted an offer in the region of £64m in an attempt to convince the Portuguese giants to part ways with the Sweden international, but Manchester United have come in with the same bid.

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It states that Chelsea and the Red Devils are now fighting it out to land the former Coventry City and Brighton & Hove Albion striker back to England this summer.

However, the report does not reveal whether or not these two bids of £64m will be enough to tempt Sporting into cashing in on their star forward ahead of the 2025/26 campaign.

Whether they can sign Gyokeres at that price or if they have to spend a bit more to acquire his services, Chelsea must push to get a deal over the line for the Swedish centre-forward in the next transfer window because he could be Maresca’s answer to Haaland.

Why Gyokeres could be Chelsea’s answer to Haaland

As aforementioned, the Blues do not have a reliable, consistent, striker who they can expect to score 20 or more goals every season to fire the team to glory, as City do with their Norwegian phenom.

After a return of 21 goals and ten assists in 46 Championship games for Coventry in the 2022/23 campaign, Gyokeres opted to move abroad to sign for Sporting to take his career to the next level.

That has turned out to be a masterstroke by the 26-year-old marksman because he has scored 86 goals and provided 26 assists in 93 matches for the Portuguese outfit to date.

Gyokeres has also stepped up to perform in the Champions League for Sporting, even scoring a hat-trick whilst up against Haaland earlier this season, which shows that he can compete at the very top level.

The Swedish star, who was described as “unplayable” by former teammate Maxime Biamou, has also delivered exceptionally impressive performances in the Portuguese top-flight in his two seasons with Sporting so far, proving himself to be a lethal finisher.

As you can see in the table above, the Chelsea target has fired in an unbelievable 59 goals in 59 appearances in Liga Portugal since the start of the 2023/24 campaign, which shows that he can find the back of the net on a consistent basis if provided with enough service.

Gyokeres has also outperformed his xG in both seasons, which speaks to his ruthless nature in front of goal, and this suggests that he would thrive in a team that creates plenty of chances, as Haaland has with Man City.

He has a Haaland-esque goal return in all competitions for Sporting, as well as outperforming him with his hat-trick against Man City earlier this term, and that is why he could be Maresca’s answer to the Cityzens star.

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New target: Chelsea eye move for £50m star who’s “similar to Bellingham”

The Blues have set their sights on an “incredible” midfielder, who has been compared to Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham.

It is now down to the club to ensure that they can beat Manchester United in the race to sign the striker, who previously played for Ruben Amorim, to bolster their squad and provide them with their own ruthless, clinical, and consistent number nine to compete in the Premier League next term.