Graham Potter is hopeful of signing a deadly striker for Chelsea this summer and a valuable attacker could be offered as part of a player-plus-cash deal, according to a report.
Chelsea have several strikers currently on their books, although none of them are right for Potter. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is in the squad, but he has looked past his best in a Chelsea shirt and is now simply waiting to leave in the summer.
Armando Broja did well at the start of the season, only to suffer an ACL rupture in December. He will be out for the remainder of the current campaign.
David Datro Fofana is another exciting young striker in Potter’s squad, having moved to Stamford Bridge in the January transfer window. He is still adapting to the English game though and will need time before he can become a real handful for Premier League defenders.
Chelsea have Romelu Lukaku out on loan at Inter Milan. The Italian side will send Lukaku back to west London this summer, which is when the Blues will attempt to get him off their books for good.
Amid all these problems, Potter has tended to use Kai Havertz as his centre-forward. The German has done well, particularly in recent weeks. He has scored in Chelsea’s last two matches to help them beat Leicester and draw with Everton.
However, Havertz would prefer to operate just behind a main striker, which is another reason why Chelsea must find a top goalscorer to lead their forward line for next season.
According to Italian source Calciomercatoweb, Napoli’s Victor Osimhen is Chelsea’s top target. Potter is ‘serious’ about capturing him, although he will not move on the cheap.
Chelsea to offload attacker in Osimhen pursuit
Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis has already declared that he does not have to sell any major assets this summer as the club is in a strong financial position. Due to this, Chelsea will have to bid more than £100million to convince Napoli on selling Osimhen.
Calciomercatoweb suggest Chelsea could reduce the amount of money they have to spend on Osimhen by including a current player in the deal. Winger Christian Pulisic has been named as the man who could move to Napoli in exchange.
The 24-year-old cost Chelsea £58m when joining from Borussia Dortmund in January 2019. He has shown flashes of his brilliance and scored some important goals for Chelsea, but overall he has not been as reliable as they would have hoped.
Pulisic now faces competition for places from the likes of Raheem Sterling, Mykhaylo Mudryk, Joao Felix, Noni Madueke and Hakim Ziyech. While the USA international started against Everton on Saturday, Chelsea officials clearly feel there is enough attacking strength in the squad to do without him.
Napoli accepting this kind of Chelsea proposal for Osimhen depends entirely on how much money would be offered in addition to Pulisic. If Chelsea were to offer Pulisic plus £30m, this probably would not meet Napoli’s demands.
But if Chelsea put Pulisic and £50m on the table, this might result in an agreement being reached.
Osimhen would be a sensational signing for Chelsea. He has proven himself to be one of the best goalscorers in the world this season. He has done it in both Serie A and the Champions League.
The only trouble for Chelsea is that they will not be alone in offering Napoli big money. Manchester United also have Osimhen on their list as they hunt a lethal striker of their own.
Meanwhile, a report claims Chelsea are preparing to outbid Man Utd and Tottenham for a Leeds star.
