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Evaluating Chelsea FC’s rumoured transfer moves

By Barrett Rouen

TURIN, ITALY - JANUARY 24: Radja Nainggolan (R) of AS Roma competes for the ball with Stephan Lichtsteiner (L) of Juventus FC during the Serie A match between Juventus FC and AS Roma at Juventus Arena on January 24, 2016 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)
TURIN, ITALY - JANUARY 24: Radja Nainggolan (R) of AS Roma competes for the ball with Stephan Lichtsteiner (L) of Juventus FC during the Serie A match between Juventus FC and AS Roma at Juventus Arena on January 24, 2016 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images) /
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Incoming – Strikers Pt. 1

By Wouter Engler (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
By Wouter Engler (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons /

Graziano Pelle

– This is a shocking piece of news that has been making the rounds lately due to the Italian Southampton striker’s wonderful relationship with Conte in the Italian national team. This strikes me as more a case of the 24-hour news cycle needing news rather than a genuine transfer possibility. An average-at-best 30-year-old striker is not exactly the sort of thing that Chelsea are clamoring for at the moment.

TURIN, ITALY – APRIL 02: Simone Zaza (R) of Juventus FC turns Leandro Paredes of Empoli FC during the Serie A match between Juventus FC and Empoli FC at Juventus Arena on April 2, 2016 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Valerio Pennicino/Getty Images)
TURIN, ITALY – APRIL 02: Simone Zaza (R) of Juventus FC turns Leandro Paredes of Empoli FC during the Serie A match between Juventus FC and Empoli FC at Juventus Arena on April 2, 2016 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Valerio Pennicino/Getty Images) /

Simone Zaza – The Juventus striker has been linked with the Blues by several different outlets.   This is likely due to the fact that Conte is a Juventus man and pretty much every player at Juve has at some point been linked with us as a result.

Zaza doesn’t particularly fit the nature of the regular second striker in Conte’s system. If Diego Costa leaves, which I will address later, that would be one thing but Zaza simply doesn’t seem like the sort of nimble off the ball striker that Conte will be looking for.

Nov 15, 2013; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; Ecuador midfielder Jorge Guagua (2) tackles Argentina forward Gonzalo Higuain (9) during the second half at MetLife Stadium. The match ended in a 0-0 draw. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 15, 2013; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; Ecuador midfielder Jorge Guagua (2) tackles Argentina forward Gonzalo Higuain (9) during the second half at MetLife Stadium. The match ended in a 0-0 draw. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports /

Gonzalo Higuain – This is one of the more fascinating rumors that has been bandied about recently. Higuain is without a doubt one of the best strikers in world football and would be an unbelievable success in whatever league it is that he chooses to play.

However, it doesn’t make sense from his or Napoli’s point of view that he would leave Southern Italy for West London. He has undoubtedly produced the best season of his career this year, scoring an unbelievable 33 goals.

Napoli also will be playing in the Champions League this year, something that I think Chelsea are going to feel the pain of missing out on more than they have acknowledged thus far. It would be nice to see Higuain in blue but it would come at a significant cost.

Next: Incoming - Strikers Pt. 2

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