Fabrizio Romano’s latest chat on Youtube has confirmed a lot of our suspicions about Chelsea’s summer plans.
The insider claimed that despite Chelsea’s “priority” being bringing in a striker, it’s still not “100% guaranteed” because they want to see how the new coach gets on with the options already at his disposal.
“Chelsea’s priority in the market remains a CF and a right footed winger,” the insider said on his streamed show.
“Chelsea still want bring in a striker but it’s still not 100% guarantee because it depends on how Nkunku plays as a striker under Maresca in pre-season and Marc Guiu is also there.”
Nicolas Jackson clearly has the first choice spot nailed down, and Nkunku is a capable backup who can play in a number of positions across the attacking line. Marc Guiu looks likely to go on loan, but if Maresca is happy with that 3 as his options, the money could certainly be spent elsewhere.
Some fans would not be happy with that trio – and certainly there’s no super proven Premier League finisher in there – but all 3 have their talents.
A patient approach could yield better results
This lines up pretty perfectly with what we had assumed was the plan all along. After making a strong chase for players like Jhon Duran and getting pretty far down the line, things suddenly cooled off, and we’ve not heard much more on the striker front at all.
Of course there have been links, but nothing serious and nothing seems to be advanced. We have laid the groundwork with players like Duran, we know what it will take to sign them if we want them, and it’s just a question of letting Maresca work his way through preseason to see what he already has at his disposal, and whether he wants to add to that.
chelsea
We need the striker