Chelsea prepared to break transfer record for next Drogba

Stuart Telford

• 9 Feb 2023 16:20 GMT
• 3 min read

Chelsea are prepared to smash the record €121 million they paid for Enzo Fernandez as they look to resolve their striker issue which has largely persisted since the days of Didier Drogba…

American billionaire Todd Boehly has splashed the cash at Stamford Bridge since succeeding Roman Abramovich as owner last May, spending more than €600 million on players across just two transfer windows.

Of the 16 new arrivals, only two have been central strikers, though - Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and David Datro Fofana. But Aubameyang has only managed a single Premier League goal since arriving from Barcelona last summer while Fofana is one for the future.

READ: Aubameyang 'very close' to Chelsea exit and €40m star may follow

Instead, consecutive managers in Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter have leant on Kai Havertz to lead the line, but his return of 29 goals in 120 games bears testament to the fact that he made his name as a midfielder.

— Football Transfers (@Transfersdotcom) October 24, 2022

Chelsea want Osimhen

"Kai Havertz has struggled to fill the void in attack and so Chelsea are prepared to sign a new striker in 2023," report 90min. "And sources have confirmed… that the Blues are desperate to win the race for Victor Osimhen."

Osimhen stated during the winter transfer window that he had no intention of leaving Napoli before firing them to a first Scudetto in 33 years this season, and he now has a league-high 16 goals with Luciano Spalletti's men 13 points clear of Inter Milan at the top of Serie A.

READ: 'Osimhen at least as good as Mbappe and worth €300m'

But his availability could change by the end of the campaign, with FootballTransfers rating him at €42.8 million per our in-house algorithm, while market forces could see him move for three times as much.

A powerful striker who boasts pace, strength, and the ability to finish off both feet, there is more than a little Drogba about Osimhen.

Drogba scored 164 goals in 381 games across two spells at Chelsea, but it is arguable that aside from Diego Costa's three-year spell between 2014 and 2017, nobody has lead the line sufficiently since.