Chelsea appears to be accepting their fate with the ban. With striker an issue of concern, preseason will mean everything for the candidates.
If there is one position Chelsea needs to strengthen, it is striker. Alvaro Morata did not pan out, Olivier Giroud was more supplementary than revolutionary, and Gonzalo Higuain was a clearly bad acquisition that went exactly as expected.
But the transfer ban prevents the Blues from adding to their strike force this summer. Chelsea will have to survive a season with the strikers they have on the roster currently. Higuain could yet be added, but with the man who vouched for him surely leaving, there is no reason to continue the failed experiment.
That puts Chelsea’s back against the wall somewhat. The Blues will need to use preseason to see who fits in best and who can lead the line for the next season. Who is on deck to get a look at?
The most senior option would be Giroud. He led the line for the Blues in their Europa League triumph and despite his age has plenty left in the tank. His style does not really suffer when his legs slow so he will be available at his current level for some time yet. With 13 goals and 10 assists in 2156 minutes last season, he is the clear front runner currently.
Next up is the youthful option of Tammy Abraham. The club holds their young academy graduate in high esteem and he spent last season (once again) wrecking the Championship to the tune of 26 goals and three assists in 3561 minutes.
Abraham already had one stint in the Premier League with Swansea sans their only playmaker and it went poorly. The main question mark will be whether surrounding Abraham with quality more on par with the current league raises his game or not. With good Championship players, he can succeed in the Championship. Does the same hold true in the Premier League?
Next would be the senior wildcard of Michy Batshuayi. By all accounts, Batshuayi’s Crystal Palace loan went poorly. Even still, he six goals in 921 minutes, continuing his impressive returns despite playing little.
His question mark will be who he really is as a player. At Dortmund, he did very well before getting injured. He made no impact at a very strange Valencia. And at Palace he was deemed poor by most observers but the stats play out in his favor. He could finally be due his shot at Chelsea but it is still unclear if he is a good enough player or not.
The biggest wildcard option, however, would be an academy striker. Charlie Brown with 20 goals and four assists in 1670 minutes and Daishawn Redan with 13 goals and three assists in 2163 minutes are both ready for a bigger challenge than academy football can provide. The leap to the Chelsea first team would be a massive one but they are still worth a look in preseason.
Chelsea currently has four preseason games and are likely to add another one or two before preseason arrives. All of these strikers should be included to see who the best fit is for the next season. The remainder should be loan or sold.
Striker will have a lot of question marks going into next season, but the Blues need to start thinking of who they want to lead the line now before preseason sneaks up on them.