It is no secret that Chelsea could do with a world-class striker right now. Admittedly, Joao Pedro has done well since his summer move. He is one of the few good signings the Blues have made during the BlueCo era. Interestingly, a large number of those have come from Brighton & Hove Albion.
Still, not everybody is convinced that Pedro is an out-and-out goalscorer. He is a fantastic player on his day, no doubt, but he does blow hot and cold.
Pedro started his time brilliantly at Chelsea, scoring three goals in two games at the Club World Cup. He then looked in tremendous touch in pre-season and the start of the campaign as well. But he would soon lose his form and not too long afterwards, Enzo Maresca was trying him different positions and did not even seem to view him as a centre-forward.
Pedro would find another pocket of form after Liam Rosenior’s arrival. But then, he would lose his goalscoring touch once again, which is one of the main reasons Chelsea are on a five-game losing streak in the Premier League without scoring a goal, their worst run since 1912.
Chelsea need a world-class goalscorer
Chelsea need someone who will score goals consistently. A player like Erling Haaland, Harry Kane or Robert Lewandowski in his prime. Of course, those players are hard to find.
One player who might not be a million miles away from that category is Victor Osimhen even though he finds himself at Galatasaray at 27 years of age. He was constantly linked with a move to Chelsea at one point in time, but it never materialised. Could the Blues revisit it in the summer?
Emmanuel Petit seems to believe that Osimhen could be the one to solve Chelsea’s problem up top. He said as quoted by GOAL:
“Victor Osimhen is doing well with Galatasaray but when he left Napoli, I was hoping that he was going to come to the Premier League, I have no idea why he chose Galatasaray.
“Since Drogba, I think there’s been a curse around the number nine at Chelsea. I think it’s different with Osimhen because this guy has a really big personality and character, he could be the man to break that curse.”
Could Osimhen solve Chelsea’s problems?
Osimhen has continued to find the back of the net consistently since joining Galatasaray. In 32 games this season, he has 20 goals and eight assists to his name. Seven of those goals and three of the assists came in the Champions League.
Of course, Petit’s observation is not completely on the mark. Diego Costa did have an excellent run at Chelsea and played a key part in two Premier League-winning seasons.
That being said, someone like Osimhen could solve a problem that has existed since Costa left. The likes of Romelu Lukaku, Alvaro Morata, Timo Werner, Liam Delap and several others have failed to fill that void.
