Chelsea FC Transfers: Should the Blues buy a striker?

Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

Despite sitting on or near the top of the Premier league table all season long the Blues have had production issues from the players on the pitch who are paid to score goals, namely the strikers. The Blues currently maintain a stable of three strikers on the first team, Fernando Torres, Samuel Eto’o, and Demba Ba, from whom two are named to the starting lineup on a match by match basis (usually Torres and Eto’o barring injury).

The problem with this is that none of these players can really be considered world class strikers anymore. Torres may have scored 9 goals in his 15 starts for Chelsea this season, not a bad return, but he is still a far cry from the “El Niño” of old that terrorized England and Europe from 2007-2011 while playing for a certain squad on Merseyside. Demba Ba has been in relatively poor form a Chelsea despite playing well in England for Newcastle, and Samuel Eto’o is aging and seems to be a sporadic goal scorer at best.

So, the question comes up in pubs and blogs the world over, who should the Blues look to sign this summer in order to end the goal scoring problems? You would think any player would thrive when he’s playing alongside the talented midfield combination of Eden Hazard, Oscar and Willian, and yet none of Chelsea’s current forwards have been exceptional. Indeed, Hazard himself has been the most dominant goal scorer for the club this season with 12 goals scored in the league, including a hat trick against Newcastle.

While most fans are content debating which player club owner Roman Abramovich will splash more money on, perhaps the Blues don’t need to look outside of their own system. The young Belgian forward Romelu Lukaku spent last season on loan at West Bromwich Albion and this year the youngster has been playing for Everton. Both loan spells have proven that Lukaku can score, and score in bunches at the highest level. The Belgian forward has the size, power, and potential to rival former Blues legend Didier Drogba, should he be given the chance to shine as the out and out striker. There have been some rumors of tension between the Lukaku and current Chelsea skipper Jose Mourinho, however I feel that once they work together as first team player and coach the two will quickly become a dominant pair and success would shortly follow.

See some of his exploits so far at Everton FC this season (prior to an injury) here

Beyond Lukaku the Blues also have another young striker in the stables, English U21 player Patrick Bamford has had something of a breakout season on loan in England’s lower divisions. He started the season out with Milton-Keynes Dons in League One, where he scored 17 goals in 32 appearances, before switching to Championship side Derby County during the January transfer window. Since his promotion to a higher league the boy has kept up his scoring pace, with 5 goals in just 8 appearances so far for Derby County, including a cracking game winner against Sheffield Wednesday.

Brazilian youngster Lucas Piazon, currently one of 6 Chelsea players on loan at Dutch side Vitesse Arnheim has begun to make a name for himself as another potential option at forward. For the Dutch side, Piazon plays as a left wing/left forward, but manager Peter Bosz allows Piazon the freedom that his former manager at Malaga (current Man City boss Manuel Pellegrini) refused him. At the halfway point of the season, Piazon was leading the team in league goals, assists and key passes. He’s developing into a solid young player that hopes to break into both the Brazilian national side as well as the Chelsea first team by the start of next season. His second half has started slow, but he could provide some more attacking creativity as a forward, as well as an ability to finish off runs and find the net.

All of these young players provide options outside of the current set of forwards, but at least one forward will most likely be bought by the club, as rumor has it that Eto’o will be returning to Spain in the summer transfer window, and Demba Ba may be out the door as well.

Atletico Madrid’s Diego Costa, AS Monaco’s Radamael Falcao, and Paris Saint-Germain’s Edinson Cavani are the hottest prospects for this summer’s transfer market. With the news that Chelsea are not one of the UEFA clubs being punished for breaking the new rules of Financial Fair Play, the club can easily justify spending some more of Roman’s millions on a shiny new striker, however the club also has plenty of options at home (or out on loan) already on the books. Why not give the young lads a shot to play for their shirt?