Having seen 2 official bids rejected by Manchester United for Wayne Rooney, Chelsea seem to have explored the possibility of bringing former Barcelona forward, Samuel Eto’o, to Stamford Bridge.
Eto’o, who has been a problem for Chelsea in the past, scored freely for Barcelona, and did the same for Inter Milan, under Jose Mourinho. He says he enjoyed his time playing for Mourinho at Inter, and the forward, currently at Anzhi Makhachkala, is adding fuel to the speculation by suggesting Chelsea have an offer ready for him:
“There is only one Jose Mourinho. I have played under a lot of great coaches – but there is no other character in the game like Jose,”
“He is one of the best coaches in the world – and we had a lot of success together at Inter Milan. I would like to have the chance to play under him again – because it is never boring when Jose is around.
“Of course Chelsea are a great team – and when we have all the offers on the table then I will discuss with my agent and see what my next step is.”
But is he Chelsea’s only fall-back option?
As it so happens, there are alternatives to 32-year-old Eto’o. Here are some of them listed below:
Karim Benzema
Having endured a torrid start to life at Real Madrid, Benzema found his feet under Mourinho, and looked very much like the striker he was at Lyon. And having worked with Mourinho, it would still need a bit to convince Benzema to join Mourinho at Chelsea, a team currently built with a large French speaking quadrant. A move for Benzema would also pave the way for Real Madrid to make Suarez their blockbuster buy for the summer, leaving Gareth Bale as unfinished business for next year to deal with, whose club Tottenham seem reluctant to do business this summer.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVIRbCJulxA]
Klaas Jan-Huntelaar
The 29-year-old Schalke striker is known to be a clinical finisher, and is also known to be a great holder of the ball. His natural and effective hunger for finishing makes him one of the most feared strikers in the Bundesliga, and would also work in Chelsea’s favour when his holding play comes into effect. Having attackers that run at goal like Hazard and Mata, Huntelaar would provide the perfect platform for them to showcase their skills going forward.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBWYh7yOlWg]
Burak Yilmaz
With 32 goals from 31 league and Champions League starts last season, Burak Yilmaz definitely has a record of a player Chelsea are in need of this year. The 27-year-old Galatasaray finisher is a pure goal scorer, and focuses on nothing but getting the ball at the back of the net. He’s always seen shoulder to shoulder with the last defender, waiting for attackers to provide him with a killer ball forward. He has a major spring in his step, and is also very effective when he’s waiting in the box. Mourinho seems to have stuck with his philosophy of creating a counter attacking team, and Yilmaz’s pace would certainly be a positive in those situations. We could even get our Didier to convince him if, as rumoured, he’s not ready to move!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Tiv6aQ_gtc]
Having unfortunately lost out to PSG and Monaco for Cavani and Falcao respectively, Rooney and Suarez seemed to be our next options. With Suarez all but ruled out, Rooney still seems to be the one Chelsea are desperate for.
However, it is wise by the club to look at alternatives should a deal fall through, and though Samuel Eto’o may be on that list, I fear his age and pace, along with the speed of his feet and decision making significantly reduced, signing him may be more of a problem than a solution.
The argument can be made that his age would allow 19-year-old Lukaku a couple of years to develop into a forward we all hope for, however, players like Huntelaar could also make a case for that.
In conclusion, I’d personally like to see 1 of the three listed forwards over Eto’o.
Leave me your thoughts below. Is Eto’o our best fall-back option? Is there anyone other than the players listed?
This is the same, others are 29years old, 29 -32= 3years differenece
Ok but I think we can buy Julian draxler or even Matteo kovacic these guys are awesome and young also I think if we want a striker we should get some dude from the eredivise
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Yes Julian draxler he is very talent kid
Draxler would be a perfect signing. He would be the ultimate catch for us.
I do not appreciate some of your striker suggestions.
These are mine for the best interest of Chelseafc.
1.Eto fils-strong,agile and very intelligent.one of the best strikers ever to play the game
2.Kevin keiblin(leverkusen):young,brilliant and in my opinion,better than lewandowski by miles.
3.Luiz Suarez:very very ambitious,brilliant footballer and creative.
4.Ibrahimovic zlatan:He wins things.a true football mercenary.egoistic but a fine fine footballer.
5.Wilfried bony:young and good.
6.Michu:good,very intelligent and very good positioning ability.
7.Yilmaz and benzema:quite good but almost spent.(Especially benzema).Burak is very good by all standard but can he survive the EPL?I have my doubts.
Oh and tell Barca that Chelsea is very rich,we don’t need their money;for Luiz.if they are hell bent on getting luiz,we will accept bousquets and Tello/Sanchez in exchange not cash for such a deal.finito.
Busqets???!! The most over rated player ive known.. save us pls..
Busquets is not overated
1. possibly 2. No he is not that good actually 3. Baggage makes us not want him 4. Old, massive ego 5. just moved to Swansea 6. Not an actual striker more of a attacking midfielder 7. Yilmaz I would like Benzema no thanks. No way would I want to swap Luiz for Busquets and Tello/Sanchez
Eto’o 32 age z not d problem cos drogba z almost 32 but he z always finding d back of d net but wot z about hulk? I prefer hulk dan Eto’o.
Good Article but this is my on point of view; Karim Benzema hasn’t been at the peak of his game recently . Huntelaar made an awesome performance last season in the Bundesliga i prefer we make a move for either Samuel Etoo, Probably on a 2 year deal or get Burak Yilmaz ( if Chelsea comes up with good money)
How can talk of huntelaar,is huntelaar a gud striker.pls dont ridicule chelseafc wit such player abeg.
Karim Benzema is the best option. Other players are not for CFC. Please.
Yilmaz,LAMBERT(soto) or Draxler simple are the best to understand our game Eto is old(not that he is not good)
Yilmaz,LAMBERT(soto) or Draxler simple are the best to understand our game Eto is old(not that he is not good) but his time will soon pass.