What can Chelsea hope for when the duo of Jackson and Broja lead the attack? No. of course. Chelsea clearly needs to bring in a top striker. But who will they target?

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Chelsea lost hope with Jackson and Broja

In Chelsea’s current squad, there are only two true number 9s: Nicolas Jackson and Armando Broja. However, no one brings peace of mind to coach Mauricio Pochettino and the Blues fans.

Broja grew up in Chelsea’s youth academy. He was loaned to Vitesse Arnhem (2020/21 season) and Southampton (2021/22) before becoming a regular for the first team from the 2022/23 season. The English striker has great potential with good physique, physical strength and scoring ability. However, he never showed his full potential.

This player is said to be too slow and simply not suitable for Chelsea. In addition, he is also often injured so he does not have time to create a connection with his teammates. As a result, Broja only played a few yards for a few minutes and could not find an official position.

Meanwhile, Nicolas Jackson was bought from Villarreal in the 2023 summer transfer window for 32 million pounds. Notably, he only shined in the second half of the 2022/23 season, but the Blues hastily spent money to buy him back. Having been compared to the legendary Didier Drogba thanks to his athleticism and strong appearance, Jackson will probably never reach Drogba’s level.

The 22-year-old Senegalese striker is considered clumsy, bad at handling the ball and lacking acumen in front of goal. Since the beginning of the 2023/24 season, he has become a joke countless times because of unbelievable misses. After 21 appearances in all competitions this season, Jackson scored 8 goals and added 1 assist. But nearly half of his goals came in the 4-1 win over Tottenham, where Jackson scored a hat-trick. However, even in this very match, Jackson also missed dozens of good opportunities.

 

Meanwhile, Broja only contributed 1 goal and 1 assist after 12 appearances in all competitions. His total playing time was only 366 minutes due to various injuries.

Who should the Blues buy?

In the recent match between Wolves vs Chelsea , Broja and Jackson were allowed to start together, but could not create any danger for the Wolves’ defense. Nkunku’s goal was a bright spot, but Chelsea clearly needs to bring a top striker to Stamford Bridge. 

But who could the Blues target? Chelsea’s top transfer target is striker Victor Osimhen. But the Nigerian player has just signed a new contract with Napoli with a release clause worth 130 million euros (£112 million). With that incredibly high release fee, it will be difficult for Chelsea to recruit Osimhen, because they must avoid violating the Financial Fair Play Law.

Another striker who could be targeted by Chelsea is Sporting Lisbon’s Viktor Gyokeres. The Evening Standard believes that he could be part of a deal to buy midfielder Ousmane Diomande, who is also on Sporting’s staff.

The Evening Standard wrote: “Chelsea has contacted Sporting to negotiate Ousmane Diomande, as they are looking for a new centre-back in January. In addition, Chelsea has also asked to buy striker Viktor Gyokeres, also from Sporting”.

Sporting is said to not want to sell its two stars in January 2024, and will ask Chelsea to pay an amount equal to their contract release clause. Accordingly, Diomande will cost 69 million pounds (80 million euros) and Gyokeres will cost 87 million pounds (100 million euros). These are also huge amounts of money that Chelsea must consider carefully. 

In addition to Osimhen and Gyokeres, Chelsea are also said to be in contact with Feyenoord’s Santiago Gimenez and Brentford’s Ivan Toney. Gimenez is leading the Dutch National Championship top scorer list with 18 goals in 16 matches. Meanwhile, Toney scored 20 goals in the Premier League last season. However, the prices of these two stars are not cheap. In addition, Chelsea will also have to compete with many other big players in these deals.

The reality is that there are not many quality strikers available on the market today. It is still unknown whether Chelsea will decide to spend money on the above goals or will switch to another cheaper goal.