Five strikers Chelsea could target in January to solve goal crisis

Carlo Garganese

• 13 Sept 2023 06:45 BST
• 2 min read

Chelsea broke their own world record for transfer spending this past summer, splashing out an incredible €462 million on new players.

Chelsea paid a British transfer record fee of €135 million for Moises Caicedo from Brighton.

They also spent heavily on a host of other stars, including €68m on Romeo Lavia from Southampton, €58m on Christopher Nkunku from Leipzig, €45m on Axel Disasi from Monaco, €35m on Nicolas Jackson from Villarreal, €29m on Robert Sanchez from Brighton, as well as Rennes’ Lesley Ugochukwu, Santos’ Angelo Gabriel and Benfica’s Diego Moreira.

READ MORE: Premier League 2023/24 summer transfers: All the Done Deals

The big spending has not paid off so far, though, as Chelsea have made a bad start to the season. They have just four points from four games and are down in 12th position, the same place they finished last season.

The biggest issue so far has been their attack, just as it was last term.

Chelsea have scored five goals but they have looked very toothless up front. Nicolas Jackson has impressed at times with his all-round game but he has not been clinical, scoring just once and missing some clear chances.

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It is apparent that Chelsea need to sign a number nine, and it is expected they will return to the market in January to buy a new striker.

According to Give Me Sport, Chelsea have a three-man initial shortlist for the striker role in January.

These are Brentford’s Ivan Toney, who is currently suspended for betting offences, Aston Villa frontman Ollie Watkins, and RB Leipzig wonderkid Benjamin Sesko. Sesko will be particularly expensive as he is valued at €80m by Leipzig.

But there are two other strikers Chelsea could look to target, both from Serie A.

The first is Victor Osimhen. FootballTransfers revealed on Monday that Osimhen is the club’s No.1 target for the 2024 summer transfer window and that Chelsea are leading the race to sign the 24-year-old star. A move in January will be very difficult to realise but Chelsea can try with a huge bid.

The other Serie A star is Dusan Vlahovic. Chelsea were in swap talks with Juventus to sign Vlahovic this summer in exchange for Romelu Lukaku. The deal didn’t go through because the two teams couldn’t agree on a price. Juventus are still open to selling Vlahovic and the deal could be potentially resurrected in January.