Chelsea’s choice of big money striker is down to club or coach

Chelsea will be losing Olivier Giroud at the end of his contract and Tammy Abraham because it is now or never to sell a player that doesn’t feel like he has a place at the club. On paper, that will leave Timo Werner as the sole remaining first team striker.

But even that has an asterisk. For most of the season, Werner has played off a striker or more central player to better replicate his time at RB Leipzig. Playing alone up top has proven less than fruitful overall. Thomas Tuchel has also tried Kai Havertz, Hakim Ziyech, Christian Pulisic, and Mason Mount in various striker like roles but that’s all paper over the cracks.

Chelsea is pursuing a big money striker in this window to fill the gaps. The choice, however, will come down to club or coach. The targets that seem very club oriented don’t seem to fit Tuchel’s tactics and the players that do fit Tuchel’s tactics are either unattainable or less than ideal.

It was always going to be a tricky situation coming into this transfer window. Tuchel’s contract will be down to a year coming into the summer, and few clubs want to reinforce their squad with manager choices that close to a contract expiry. Of course, Tuchel could (and probably should) get an extension on that if the season ends in particular ways, but Chelsea has to get moving in the market now if they haven’t already been. That leaves the club to decide to get players that can work for a potential future manager (as they often have done in transfer windows), or get players the manager wants (something far less frequent at Chelsea).

First of all, what type of striker does Tuchel prefers? Based on his time at Dortmund and PSG, the answer is generally a striker capable of playing anywhere in an attacking three. That player may be the striker on paper, but they will be expected to be capable of executing their duties if they rotate out wide to find space. Tuchel’s usage of Timo Werner and false nines over the alternatives implies this is still his preference.

Strikers that fit that mold that have been linked to Chelsea include Sergio Aguero, Harry Kane, and Kylian Mbappe. Aguero would be the easiest deal to pull off given his free agency but most links say he is Barcelona bound. Kane and Mbappe are barely rumors at all and are true pie in the sky options. Both seem to want to get out of their club for greener pastures, but it would be a hell of a deal for Chelsea to pull off either.

The other options linked would work better for the club in the sense that they would work better for most managers. Excellent as Tuchel has been, the shelf life at Chelsea is short regardless of success. These options may not suit Tuchel, but they would suit the majority of managers who might find themselves at Chelsea over the coming years.

This group contains the likes of Erling Haaland and Romelu Lukaku. Players that, excellent as they be as strikers, do not quite fit the fluidity of the role the manager is looking for. Like Abraham or Giroud, they are more traditional strikers. That is not to say Tuchel couldn’t find a way to get the best out of them, but they don’t necessarily fit the preference his patterns have shown over time.

Chelsea will face the dilemma with striker more than anywhere else, but also with other positions. It isn’t anything new for the club. Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte both asked for particular types of players that the club wasn’t interested in, and it arguably cost them their jobs as they had to make do with less than ideal options for their styles. Chelsea did a little better for Maurizio Sarri and Frank Lampard, but there were still very club driven signings the managers couldn’t figure out how to fit in.

Tuchel may succeed this season with a team he inherited. Going forward, however, the club may force him to use players he has to adapt to fit in. That may work out, but so would getting him the players he wants. Of course, if he leaves, then what for Chelsea?

It’s a tricky situation that Chelsea keeps finding itself in. Success in the future may depend on getting it right.