Raheem Sterling admits problem that could 'haunt' Chelsea this season

James Shearman

• Updated: 22 Aug 2023 11:58 BST
• 4 min read

Raheem Sterling thinks that Chelsea's lack of ruthlessness will 'haunt' them this season if they do not correct the issue.

These comments came after the Blues' 3-1 loss to West Ham on Sunday - a game they dominated from start to finish.

"It is a difficult one to take, the chances we created and dominating at an away ground," Sterling told Sky Sports.

"At a ground like West Ham's you have got to take your chances, this is the Premier League and it will come back to haunt you.

"When that second goal went in it was a downer, as we had not taken our chances and they took theirs."

READ MORE: 'Ruined whole window!' - Chelsea fans BLAST Boehly after latest transfer

The Blues have rebuilt the first-team squad under new manager Mauricio Pochettino, with N'Golo Kante and Mason Mount among several senior players to depart the club.

Meanwhile, more than £350 million has been spent on the likes of Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia, despite spending more than £600m on new players last season.

But while the Blues efforts to sign the aforementioned holding midfielders have been the bigger story, the additions of forwards Nicolas Jackson and Christopher Nkunku are arguably more important.

That's because Chelsea's biggest issue in the last campaign was their lack of goals, scoring just 38 in as many games.

Jackson and Nkunku's job is to solve this problem, but the former is yet to score and the latter is out until January with a serious knee injury.

Perhaps, Chelsea need to dip into the transfer market once more, with Arsenal's Folarin Balogun linked with a move to Stamford Bridge.

Why Chelsea NEED to sign Arsenal's Balogun

The Arsenal forward, who coincidentally is represented by the same agency as Chelsea new boy Romeo Lavia, is a genuine final-third threat.

He’s not heavily reliant on his physicality or strength and instead uses his intelligence to wreak havoc in the final third.

While on loan in Ligue 1 last season, he was averaging over 3.6 shots per 90 and, of these efforts, 41% hit the target.

He finished the campaign with an Expected Goals per 90 average of 0.8 and a non-penalty xG of 0.63. So, he’s a high-volume shooter who gets into high-value areas with great regularity.

If Pochettino is wanting to stick with his two-man attack, there’s no reason Jackson and Balogun couldn’t work as a duo. On paper, they complement one another well and it would give the Blues a number of different options going forward.

Jackson does a lot of good in the build-up while Balogun is a penalty-box poacher - 76% of his efforts last season came from inside the 18-yard box.

Arsenal might not want to strengthen a supposed rival but the two clubs have done a lot of business in the past and if the money is right, why wouldn’t the Gunners cash in a player who is seemingly not in Mikel Arteta’s plans? It could suit all parties for this transfer to happen.