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We are just three weeks away from the start of the Premier League season, and there is still a lot of uncertainty surrounding Chelsea. It took until the start of this month for the Blues to sack Antonio Conte and replace him with Maurizio Sarri, who is now trying to get to work in the transfer market.
It was a surprise for everyone that it took so long for Conte to leave Stamford Bridge this summer. Despite winning the title in his first season in England, and the FA Cup last season, Chelsea failed to qualify for the Champions League, and there were clear disagreements with the board - particularly over transfer business.
Sarri has already made his first signing at the club, bringing highly-rated midfielder Jorginho with him when he completed the switch from Napoli. There are less than three weeks remaining in the window though, with the Italy international the only man to join Chelsea thus far this summer.
There are still plenty of areas where the Blues need reinforcements this year, one of them being up-front. Chelsea paid a club-record £60m fee to sign Álvaro Morata from Real Madrid last summer, who was brought in to replace Diego Costa after he was banished from the first-team by Conte.
Morata has struggled to settle in England though and despite a promising start, finished the season with just 11 league goals while being left out of the side in favour of Olivier Giroud. It appears as though Sarri wants to make a change in attack this summer and if reports are to be believed, he has chosen Gonzalo Higuain as the man to replace him.
Higuain's goal record has been impressive over the years, though this doesn't mean that he is necessarily the right man for Chelsea going forward. There are often doubts over his fitness, he doesn't have the pace to threaten defenders and has a reputation for struggling to deliver in big games. With that in mind, here are five strikers they should look at, instead of moving for Higuain.
#1 Paulo Dybala (Juventus)
It’s said that Juventus need to sell this summer to make up for the £100m they spent on Cristiano Ronaldo, as well as his subsequent wages. In that case, it appears as though it will be either Higuain or Dybala who will leave this summer.
From Chelsea's perspective, Dybala is the better option. He has often been deployed on the left for Juventus over the past few seasons, though has the capability to play down the middle too.
He is certainly more mobile than Higuain, so would probably suit the way Sarri wants to play more. As he has played out on the flanks regularly, it is likely to be him who loses his place when Ronaldo is integrated into the side.
He is 24 and is yet to truly hit his prime years, though is already a top player. He will want to earn a place in the Argentinian side and impress whoever their new manager is, which will only happen if he is playing regular football at the highest level. He'd be guaranteed that, should he join Chelsea.
#2 Mauro Icardi (Inter Milan)
There aren’t many better strikers in the world at the moment than Mauro Icardi. The Argentinian has an excellent goal record, having scored 100 league goals for Inter in just 159 goals. He is also coming off the back of his best season as an Inter player, having hit 29 goals in Serie A.
Questions have been asked though about how the 25-year-old conducts himself off the field, and that has been suggested as one of the reasons that he has been so regularly left out of the Argentina squad.
He has been loyal to Inter in recent years, but he may feel it is time to leave the club in an attempt to return to the Argentina squad. He would be an excellent addition to this Chelsea squad, as he pretty much guarantees 20 goals a season. He wouldn’t come cheap though, but he is undoubtedly a player who will improve Chelsea’s squad.
#3 Timo Werner (RB Leipzig)
At 22, Werner is one of the most promising strikers in world football at the moment. The German has completed his second season in the Bundesliga with Leipzig, during which he scored 34 goals in 64 games.
Despite his age, he already has a wealth of experience, and last season became the youngest player to appear 150 times in the Bundesliga, having started his career with Stuttgart.
He did have a disappointing World Cup with Germany, but he was one of many in that squad who didn’t perform. He is a natural finisher, and proved this with his record at Leipzig, as well as winning the Golden Boot at the 2017 Confederations Cup.
He will improve by playing with better players, who create more chances for him, and at Chelsea, he will be playing with top players.
#4 Anthony Martial (Manchester United)
It is no secret that Martial is looking for a route out of Old Trafford. His agent has made it clear that he wants to leave Manchester United, after falling down the pecking order at the club, particularly after the signing of Alexis Sanchez.
The Frenchman has started just 36 Premier League matches in his two seasons under Jose Mourinho, and that will have contributed to him missing out on selection for the World Cup with France.
He has predominantly played out on the left for United in his time in England, but he is more than capable of playing down the middle as a striker. He has the pace to run in behind defences and is more than good enough in front of goal to be a 20-goal a season striker.
The one issue for Chelsea is that United may not be inclined to sell to a fellow Premier League club, but they may be more prepared to discuss the deal with Chelsea, given that they allowed Nemanja Matic to move to Old Trafford last summer.
#5 Moussa Dembele (Celtic)
Dembele is probably the wildcard on this list, as he might have to be a bit of a project for Chelsea. With all due respect to Scottish football, the SPFL is not one of the top leagues in Europe, so the Frenchman is yet to really be tested in a top league. He has impressed enough though to attract interest from across Europe.
He scored 17 league goals in his first season with Celtic but suffered from injuries last season, so scored just nine goals. He has an impressive record on the international stage though and scored nine goals in 14 games for France’s U21 side.
The risk for Chelsea if they are to move for him is because of that lack of experience in top leagues, he may not be ready to be a first choice striker for a top-six club. He does have the potential to go all the way to the top, and with the right amount of experience, he will get there.
The issue is whether Chelsea would be prepared to give him that opportunity in the long-term because as we have seen in the past, the board at Stamford Bridge always want immediate success.
