I don’t know about you guys, but I do love the transfer window and lots of transfer speculation. Few other things in life provide you with the same excitement as the thought of seeing some world class players wearing Chelsea’s blue. Sure, you get some awful and uninspiring rumours but for the most part, as a Chelsea fan at least, it’s a steady stream of world class talent all apparently waiting to be snapped up by Roman’s millions.
In the hunt for a new striker though, this stream is drying up.
Many of you believe Chelsea need a new striker, myself included, someone who is going to take us to the next level and long term – in other words, not necessarily Demba Ba. What about Lukaku you may ask? Well, my honest opinion is that he’ll spend next year on loan and that would be best for him. If he hits form for a team with European football, he ends up more experienced, nails a place in the Belgium team for the World Cup and returns to Stamford Bridge as the complete animal of a striker we know he can become. So what does that leave us with? The £50 million man and Demba Ba. In all honesty, not the most inspiring front line. As much as I love both of them as blokes and Demba Ba’s eye for spectacular finishes, they aren’t going to fire us to Domestic or European glory.
So, lets go out and buy a world class striker. Simple. Isn’t it?
Well, it’s starting to look as though it isn’t quite as simple as we might like and that is because, if you believe the rumours, a lot of world class strikers are moving this summer, and none of them to Chelsea. Some of the potential big moves are mentioned here with many having been previously linked to moves to the Capital this summer:
- Lewandowski to Bayern Munich.
- Rooney to Real Madrid (todays latest Roomour – see what I did there? No? Ok, sorry)
- Falcao to Moneybags Monaco (tbc in the coming days)
- Tevez also to Moneybags Monaco
- Cavani to Manchester City
- Higuain to Juventus
- Llorente to Juventus
I’m not saying these players were all targets but there are a limited number of world class strikers around and it appears most are on the move, not to Chelsea meaning we are left without a world class striker to shoot Chelsea to the top.
So what can Chelsea do? Well, they can act fast before suddenly all options are taken. There are a couple of players who are probably left as realistic alternatives, though not necessarily of the same calibre as names mentioned previously.
Jackson Martinez – Porto Striker, and 25 goals in 19 games in the Portuguese League this season. Those are Falcao esque statistics. This Columbian also has 3 in 8 in Champions League games. I haven’t seen enough of the 26 year old to form an opinion or judgement of his quality but going by stats, this guy sure knows how to score.
Bony Wilfried – Vitesse Striker, 32 in 32 for the Ivorian hitman in the Dutch First Division. The big man has been likened to Didier Drogba due to their similar style of play and brute power. 24 years of age and given Chelsea’s relationship with Vitesse, this might not be unrealistic to think about as a prospective transfer. Statistics aren’t the whole story though as whilst his statistics are similar to those of John Guidetti at Feyenoord last season (now rotting at the Man City Training Ground), Bony offers a lot more in his all round play. He might not be the striker to take us to the next level at this minute, but after speaking with some people who watch him often, he has the potential to be an excellent striker.
Loic Remy – Joined the QPR Relegation Party in January but has proven his potent finishing ability in the Premier League with 6 goals in 13 games – not bad for a team low on goals and who’ll be playing in the Championship next season. Remy won’t want to be in the Championship next season and if rumours are to be believed that he has an £8m Relegation Release Clause, he’d be a cheap, fairly long term acquisition that could be a very good deal for Chelsea.
There are a few others I could mention but these were the first 3 that sprung to mind, they may not be the calibre of the names mentioned in the list further up, but they are all proven goal scorers and have potential.
If Chelsea are serious about buying a striker in the summer window – and a good one at that – then they need to hurry things up a bit. There is a limited number of world class strikers around, and they look like the majority will be snapped up/have been snapped up by others. The early bird catches the worm.
