Do Chelsea need another striker? That is a question many have been asking this summer. The club have signed Liam Delap and Joao Pedro this summer, which has put Nicolas Jackson's future into doubt. Christopher Nkunku, another player capable of playing up front, is expected to leave in this transfer window as well.
It remains to be seen what the future holds for Jackson. If he does leave, which many are starting to feel is likely, then Chelsea might try to sign another striker.
But even if he does not, they could sign one now to bring in next summer. Of course, we are talking about Emanuel Emegha, the Dutch striker who currently plays for Strasbourg.
There is a clear reason behind Chelsea being keen to move now rather than wait for next summer, even though the situation should be under control as he is a Strasbourg player. And it is do with fair market value. As reported by CaughtOffside, while speaking on the London Is Blue podcast, Telegraph journalist Matt Law said:
"I was told by someone who works around the Strasbourg end of things, that they believe that one day this guy could be a 50 million-plus striker, and again, I think maybe they’re looking to do an early deal for him, to get him into a Chelsea player, is looking at that fair market value.
“Because if you do it now, you can probably do it around… I’m guessing here. I don’t know that this is a figure, but say 25 million. If you do it another year down the line, you might be looking at a fair market value of around 40 million."
Chelsea could agree €25m deal for Ligue 1 striker very soon because things could change next summer
So, if Emegha ends up having another brilliant season, then Chelsea might have to end up paying a much higher transfer fee, if they try to sign him next summer. So, it is smart on their part to make the move now and then wait for a year to allow the Dutchman to develop his game further in Ligue 1 with Strasbourg before making the move to the Premier League.
Of course, Emegha has shown what he is capable of, scoring 14 goals in 27 Ligue 1 appearances last season. That being said, there are a lot of areas to his game that still need a lot of work.
This is not the finished article, that for sure. There are a lot of rough edges and if he does not end up working on those, it is hard to imagine that he would prove to be a success story in the Premier League, with Chelsea or elsewhere.