Tuchel needs a top-class striker to win the Premier League with Chelsea, says Shearer

Martin Macdonald

• Updated: 23 May 2023 08:44 CDT
• 2 min read

Former Premier League winner Alan Shearer believes that new Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel must recruit a new star centre-forward this summer to turn the Blues into title contenders.

Under Frank Lampard and now Thomas Tuchel, there hasn’t been a consistently selected striker to lead the line every week, with Olivier Giroud, Tammy Abraham, and Timo Werner all having played in the number nine role this season.

Abraham is Chelsea’s top scorer in the Premier League, but that is with a tally of just six goals.

Shearer has urged Tuchel to go out and sign a new starting centre-forward, as he reckons it could prove to be a game changer.

“He’s given everyone an opportunity. He didn’t play [Mason] Mount in the first game and he’s swapped it over with [Ben] Chilwell and [Marcos] Alonso,” the former Blackburn and Newcastle striker said on Match of the Day.

“Giroud has been in there, he’s changed the system slightly. He’s given everyone the opportunity to impress him.

“I still think they are lacking that top-quality centre-forward to challenge [for the title]. They’ll challenge for fourth but I think to go to the next level they’ll need a top centre forward.”

Werner’s best football came as a centre-forward with RB Leipzig last season in which he scored 28 goals in 33 games in the Bundesliga.

However, he has been utilised more on the left of the attacking midfield three with Chelsea, while under Tuchel he plays more centrally but in a slightly deeper role.

The German is currently on a run of just one goal in 19 games with the Blues, but remains confident that he will start hitting the back of the net on a regular basis soon for his new club.

Tuchel has also backed the misfiring German, who did play a part in both Chelsea’s goals at the weekend as he won a penalty and also recorded an assist.