Transfer insider Graeme Bailey has revealed that Chelsea still have eight strikers in their thoughts beyond Jhon Duran, as he “wouldn’t rule out” a second striker signing after the snare of the Aston Villa man.
The Blues have struggled for years to find a striker that can consistently find the back of the net. The last central man that fully led from the front in terms of goals was probably Diego Costa in the 2016/17 campaign, when he notched 20 goals.
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But wide man Cole Palmer just netted 22 times in the league in his debut season, and Todd Boehly will see adding a top striker as a chance to continue the good run the Blues are on.
Chelsea are in talks over signing Aston Villa striker Duran, and all information points to him wanting to head to Stamford Bridge amid those talks.
But insider Bailey has told the Chelsea Chronicle that the striker, who scored eight goals last season, may not be the last incoming in the centre-forward role this summer.
“It wouldn’t surprise me if Duran came in with another one [striker]. Would Duran be the main target? I’d be surprised and I think most Chelsea fans would be surprised as well,” Bailey said.
“Chelsea won’t over pay for him, and I think the fact they paid £30m for Nicolas Jackson probably tells us where they feel they should be with Duran.”
“I don’t think they’ll just necessarily go for two strikers, but because Duran is someone they’ve wanted for a long time, and they like a lot, I think if they got him it wouldn’t rule out another one. Duran plus one other is the way.”
Indeed, Bailey has revealed that Chelsea have eight more strikers on their wish list, with varying chances of success in the pursuits.
“Could we see the Osimhen interest resurrected? I wouldn’t rule it out completely, but unlikely at this stage. They [Napoli] are very hard to negotiate with. The chairman normally gets his way,” he added.
“[Benjamin] Sesko was a bit of a surprise to be staying. Dominic Solanke is a player they know about, they’ve done their homework on. Luis Openda, Sesko’s teammate at Leipzig.
“[Artem] Dovbyk at Girona, they’ve looked at him, he’s on the radar. Same as Ivan Toney, but Brentford are not dropping below £60m. Obviously Julian Alvarez at City who we know they like as well. There’ll be others as well. They are assessing their options. And Victor Gyokeres as well.”
Sesko’s new contract seems to rule out a move for at least another year, and there’ll be obstacles ahead of some more of those moves, but Chelsea may well look to bring in more than just Duran in the forward areas.
