Chelsea are keen to sign a centre forward, but there just aren’t that many options out there.
All the good ones are taken and not going anywhere, and there are always a host of rival teams also looking for a goalscorer. The Blues’ failure to sign a consistent striker to replace Diego Costa is as much a reflection of how hard it is to find one as it is a reflection of how poorly they’ve done it.
But after weeks hearing about Dusan Vlahovic and Victor Osimhen, both of whom look nigh impossible to sign, a new name has entered the picture. An exclusive in the Evening Standard reveals that the Blues are looking at Nicolas Jackson of Villareal.
Not much detail is given, but apparently the Blues have already “held talks” with the forward. The 21 year old had a great season in La Liga and ended the campaign on fire, netting 9 goals in his final 8 games of the season.
A price of £30m is mentioned, which would make him far cheaper than alternatives like Osimhen.
But do Chelsea really want to risk another false economy? If they’re not sure that Jackson is the one, they need to hold fire. It sounds like these were just exploratory talks, and we will likely continue to push for triple A targets until we confirm that they’re out of our price range. Only after that might we get serious and start offering formal bids for players like Jackson.
The price is not an issue. What matters is the player fitting into the system and delivering .