Chelsea are ready to break their transfer record in the summer to sign a striker despite Graham Potter warning that a new forward does not guarantee goals – just like it was with Romelu Lukaku.
The London club’s new owners have spent over £600m since taking over last summer and embarked on the biggest January spending spree in history.
Nine players were signed, with a mix of wonderkids, big-money signings, mainly the Premier League record £106m addition of Enzo Fernandez – and a loan deal for Atletico Madrid’s Joao Felix.
According to The Sun, Chelsea intend to continue spending in the summer window and have identified a new forward as their priority.
Though, the Blues have secured a deal for RB Leipzig attacker Christopher Nkunku but they also want a goalscorer to lead the line and have set their sights on Napoli’s Victor Osimhen.
With 14 goals in just 16 games, the Nigeria international – who is also wanted by Manchester United – is currently the leading scorer in Serie A but he will command a huge transfer fee, with The Sun suggesting Chelsea will need to spend more than £110m – thus breaking their record once again.
But the reported interest in Osimhen brings up questions about how in sync Chelsea’s hierarchy are with their manager, with Potter having already warned against throwing more money at the club’s problems.
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Since taking charge, Chelsea have struggled to convert chances into goals and that continued again on Friday in a 0-0 draw against west London rivals Fulham.
Speaking after that game, Potter discussed Lukaku’s disastrous move to Stamford Bridge – with the forward loaned back to Inter Milan after just one campaign – and feels adding another big-money striker to the team is not the solution to Chelsea’s lack of goals.
‘I think we need to improve as a team. If you look back 18 months, from the outside Chelsea wasn’t scoring and they thought they’d spent close to £100million on a centre-forward [Lukaku] and that would fix all their problems, and it didn’t,’ he said.
‘You have to attack better as a team and that’s our challenge – that’s what we need to do.’
Lukaku would appear to represent something of a warning for Chelsea over their pursuit of Osimhen, with the Belgian star having been superb in Italy before returning to the Premier League in a then club-record deal.
He netted 24 goals and provided 11 assists for Inter in the 2020/21 season – a key contribution every 82 minutes – but only netted eight goals in the Premier League last season before being shipped back to Milan, where he has been plagued by injuries.
