Chelsea eye prolific Nigerian striker - and it's not Osimhen

Tom Weber

• 23 Feb 2024 06:50 CST
• 3 min read

Chelsea could look to Victor Boniface as a potential alternative to Victor Osimhen, according to a report.

The Blues are in the market for a striker. While talk of Nicolas Jackson's underperformance has been exaggerated, the truth is that the Senegalese striker has not yet had the desired impact at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea are therefore looking to once again make a splash in the transfer market by breaking the bank for a star number nine. Victor Osimhen is their priority target for that position, but the Blues will face stiff competition from PSG, who appear to have anointed the Nigerian as the heir to Real Madrid-bound Kylian Mbappe.

Ivan Toney is a potential alternative, but he too won't be easy to get, with Arsenal and Man Utd also keen on the Brentford man. Chelsea may have to get a bit more creative with their targets and it appears that they have already identified one potential new striker option.

Chelsea in for Boniface?

Already reported by BILD several days ago, the German outlet's chief transfer expert Christian Falk has now reiterated that Chelsea are keeping tabs on Bayer Leverkusen forward Victor Boniface.

“Nicolas Jackson has not yet managed to solve the striker problem at Chelsea,” Falk told CaughtOffside. “Someone else could do that in the future: Victor Boniface, [he] came from Saint-Gilloise in 2023 for €16m...Contract until 2028. Current market value €40m. Chelsea are tempting, but Bayer don't want to sell him.”

Osimhen's Nigeria teammate notched a whopping 16 goals and eight assists in 23 games prior to suffering an adductor injury that will keep him sidelined for another couple of months. When fit, the 23-year-old is one of Europe's most exciting forwards, but his injury record is a worry as he has already suffered two ACL injuries in his still-young career.