Chelsea’s forwards both already at the club, new transfers, and rumored signings give the Blues a spark going into the new season.
By all accounts, Chelsea has had an unusually animated and arguably extremely productive transfer window. This series will explore the current status of the club’s personnel, position-by-position beginning with the forwards.
While no transfer at any time or at any cost ever is an iron-clad sure thing, the quality of the players bought into the team in this window so far may well surpass any in the last decade or so at the club in both quality and quantity. These additions for next season certainly are reasons for great optimism among the Chelsea faithful, and perhaps some degree of trepidation for the not-so-Chelsea followers in Liverpool, Manchester, and elsewhere in London. The Chelsea forward position is certainly no exception.
Chelsea has splashed the cash this summer (and technically earlier) after having been extant from transfers during the past two windows. During last summer’s window, a ban precluded the Blues from registering any signings and new manager Frank Lampard had to make do with the personnel on hand. In addition, while their second window ban for January was overturned, the club decided not to invest in the team at that time. It was an unpopular and risky stance, but in light of Lampard’s being able to brilliantly earn essentially a third-place finish (at least on points) and Champions League qualification, it proved to be advantageous and opportune.
The hiatus on transfers was utilized as more of a stocking-up period to aggregate necessary funds to afford Lampard the opportunity to not just tune but overhaul the club as he sees fit. And to date, it looks as though he is well on his way to doing just that. One of the positions that Lampard has seemingly prioritized for his new Chelsea (called a “revolution” by some), is the forwards. Let’s take an in-depth look at who will be available if fit (a big “if”) when the bell rings at Brighton on September 14.
Christian Pulisic, Left Winger
Chelsea rolled out a fairly formidable front-line last season when injury permitted. And that would prove to be difficult permission to receive. Chelsea opened the season with a newly-acquired American superstar, Christian Pulisic, AKA Captain America playing on the left wing. Pulisic started fairly well but a serious muscle injury curtailed his first season in blue and he was sidelined for several months until after the coronavirus suspension. Yet, upon returning, he certainly made it plain why Chelsea had invested the healthy sum of $73M on the young American national team star.
Pulisic demonstrated a new, more direct attacking style as Lampard himself noted and began to rip Premier League defenses apart like paper with his slashing rushes and piercing shots. Pulisic was arguably the Blues’ best player after the break until another untimely injury curtailed his breakthrough and kept him out of the action for the FA Cup final against the Gunners. There is no doubt that his absence created a definite and major shortfall in the Blues’ attack and failure to bring home the trophy. When healthy, Pulisic will start on the left.
Hakim Ziyech, Right Winger
Ziyech immediately demonstrated his quality in Chelsea’s first friendly against Brighton. He launched a perfect pass to Callum Hudson-Odoi that he deflected effortlessly on to the golden boot of Timo Werner for the Blues only goal after about four minutes or so. Then, later in the match, he delivered a perfect past to Timo Werner who diverted a header over the goal precluding him from his brace and Ziyech from his first assist as a Chelsea player. A shame, yet in the process, Ziyech still demonstrated that he not only is up to the challenge of the Premier League but that he will excel. He was simply masterful before having to be helped off with an injury.
Ziyech’s potential is just massive for the club. He is a uniquely talented forward both on the pass and in the shot. He’s a lethal finisher if he has the opportunity but he seems to like the role of set-up man equally well. No matter his predisposition, Ziyech is one of a growing coterie of Chelsea players who can impact the attack both by pinpoint passing and by decisive finishing. Hopefully, the knee injury won’t prevent Ziyech from missing too much game action, if any at all. He’s a joy to watch and the goals will flow.
Timo Werner, Striker
Chelsea now finds itself with a plethora of attacking talent at the center forward position. One might say a wealth of riches. It’s looking like the choice to start the season if healthy is newly-acquired super-scorer Timo Werner. It took Werner all of about four minutes or so to earn his breakthrough and score his first goal in the preseason friendly against Brighton. Werner is no stranger to scoring goals. He was second to the marvelous Robert Lewandowski of Bayern Munich in scoring in the Bundesliga for Leipzig last season. He scored 34 goals and 13 assists in 45 games in all competitions. That’s 47 goal involvements in 45 games. It’s called ultra-production.
Werner is a sniper whose focus is on one objective: goal-scoring. Werner is a decisive and instinctive scorer. Yet, he won’t pass up an opportunity to get on the score sheet by laying a great pass onto a teammate’s feet either. But make no mistake about it, he is first and foremost a finisher and who revels in getting lots of goals. He’s exactly what you want in a center forward, yet he also has the skills and the inclination to be played on the left wing if the situation calls for it. That versatility could be critical during the long season as injuries and fatigue may necessitate that people contribute in other than their primary roles. Werner can do just that.
The other talent
Any team in the Premier League that hopes to contend for a title has to first have great first-team talent on hand. That limits the number dramatically. But even if they meet that prerequisite, they also have to have the depth required to fill in places in the team should any players, especially any key players be injured. On occasion, a club may enjoy supreme luck and experience few if any major injuries at all in a season. That’s the ultimate positive situation. But in reality, that will happen infrequently. A club can’t count on it. A club must have strength in depth to withstand the losses that may occur due to injury and just the normal attrition of fatigue.
This coming season, Chelsea is well equipped to do just that where previously it was a significant if not game changing issue for the Blues. Callum Hudson-Odoi, a world class young player prior to his serious Achilles injury is seeking to regain that level again. He can deputize on either the left or right wing, bringing a whole bevy of different problems for a defense. His dribbling skills are off the charts and he can finish as well. With the departures of Pedro and Willian, he will be called upon to fill in and to augment the top three early and often this season. He most certainly will be up to the challenge.
At center forward, Lampard has two outstanding talents to bring in to either rest Werner or be used in conjunction with the German national scorer to further augment the Chelsea attack. Tammy Abraham, a product of the Chelsea Academy, had a sound first season for the Blues scoring 18 goals with 5 assists in all competitions, a solid season for sure. While he tailed off a bit after a blistering start to the season, and later on an injury seriously curtailed his production, to his credit, he toiled on for Lampard nonetheless. All in all, it was a solid premiere season for Abraham and he is expected to provide similar production this year.
Also available is the amazing French World Cup winner, Olivier Giroud. He is one of the most underrated center forwards on the planet. Giroud can hold up play as well as anyone in world football. In addition, Giroud is a clinical finisher whose efforts after the suspension of play due to the pandemic helped secure Champions League football for the Blues this season. His contribution cannot be minimized. Once Lampard inserted him into the starting lineup for the injured Abraham, Giroud excelled and helped carry the club along with Pulisic. There was little to choose between Pulisic and Giroud for the most valuable Chelsea player after the suspension. Both (along with Willian) were brilliant.
That’s the superlative Chelsea front line for next season. For the purposes of this exercise, Mason Mount will be considered a midfielder. It’s his best position going forward along with Kai Havertz in a dual No. 8 setup. Mount adds a tremendous work rate along with excellent defensive skills and attacking prowess to the midfield, but more on that later. Next up, The new Chelsea Midfield.