Chelsea transfers: Muriel is perfect short-term alternative to Haaland

It is now public knowledge that even if Erling Haaland is to sign for Chelsea, it would take a fairly long time to strike a deal that makes both parties happy. This means the Blues may just have to start looking for suitable alternatives, or at least alternatives that better address the problems in the side currently. This piece addresses the latter. Many seem to think that Chelsea creates a lot of chances because it takes many shots per game; however, the eye test and the numbers show the Blues don’t create good chances regularly.

Luis Muriel may be able to fix that. Muriel is a Colombian striker who played a supporting role for Atalanta in the 2020/21 league season. He racked up 22 goals and nine assists in the league, despite only getting 16 starts. This is an impressive tally, as only three players scored more than him, one of them being Cristiano Ronaldo. Muriel plays in a very attacking Atalanta side, so his goal tally is not a shock.

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Luis Muriel is a perfect short-term solution for Chelsea at striker.

An interesting point about Muriel’s goal tally is that nine out of those 22 goals came from half chances. Muriel missed 12 big chances according to SofaScore, but scored 11 of them. This puts the Colombian’s big chance conversion rate at 48 percent. For reference, Robert Lewandowski’s rate was 47 percent in the same season. Interestingly, Muriel had access to 23 big chances last season, same as Chelsea’s Timo Werner. Werner, though, converted just five (22 percent) of them.

Muriel may be the perfect answer to the Blues’ dilemma because in him, they’d have a striker that can score a considerable amount of goals from half chances, which is most of the type of chances they create. In addition to this, they get a more clinical (if you may) striker. A 48 percent big chance conversion rate is very good for a striker and if he keeps that up, he’d could get up to 10-12 goals from big chances alone while at Chelsea.

Muriel also plays for a high-pressing Atalanta team that deploys a three-centerback formation, the only difference is that Muriel would be playing in a team with more defensive organization and solidity at Stamford Bridge. He’s already accustomed to the work rate of a high pressing team and movement involved to get into good goal scoring positions.

According to fbref, Muriel made 4.69 progressive passes per 90, which is better than any Chelsea striker last season. For players who played up to 90 minutes, Muriel records the most shot-creating actions (6.2) and the second most goal-creating actions (1.13) per 90. Note that these things aren’t easy to do in the Serie A. Muriel made nine tackles in the attacking third, which is more than any striker did at Chelsea. Muriel also ranks first for progressive passes received per 90 (15.4) amongst players to have started up to 15 games, indicating that he’s a good outlet for attacking moves. He also ranks third for progressive carries per 90 (7.94), of players to have started 15 games. Muriel ranked fifth for pressures (17.2) per 90 among players who played up to 90 minutes, ranking second for pressures in the final third (8.69). This work rate, for a center forward, would sit well with Tuchel as the German would be able to count on Muriel to deliver off-the-ball action, as well as on the ball. Muriel really is the perfect solution to the Blues’ current issues as he delivers just as much off the ball as on it, as well as end product.

Chelsea would not want to make a signing that would kill its chances of pursing Haaland next summer either, so at 30 years old, Muriel is the perfect man to bring in. He is not a starter at Atalanta, so he wouldn’t need to be a starter for Chelsea. Of course, Tuchel runs a meritocracy, so he would start as many games as he deserves to. Like Chelsea, Atalanta could only use three forwards because of its formation, this may explain why Muriel came off the bench so often, despite his magnificent numbers.

The Blues themselves already have a lot of players contending for the three forward places, but Olivier Giroud is gone and Tuchel doesn’t look like he’ll be changing his mind on Tammy Abraham soon. The rest of the players contending for that role bring many things to the side except end product, including Kai Havertz. Muriel brings all those things, but also end product.

Who do you think would be the perfect buy in the absence of Haaland? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter!