Chelsea were only able to secure the signing of one player in time for the Club World Cup campaign. Liam Delap, brought in after meeting his release clause at Ipswich Town, will be leading the line along with Nicolas Jackson. The Blues were not able to agree deals with AC Milan and Borussia Dortmund for Mike Maignan and Jamie Gittens, respectively.
The addition of Delap means that the striker situation is now somewhat settled. One would be hoping that competition brings out the best in Jackson as well.
There are a lot of things to like about Jackson's game. It is in the final third that he lets himself down time and again, missing a galore of simple chances. It is for that reason that after two full seasons, many Chelsea fans have given up on the Senegal international and want another striker to be brought in this summer.
There is a belief that Chelsea will see how Delap and Jackson work for them at the Club World Cup. From there, they will assess the urgency of needing to sign another striker.
Chelsea make approach to sign German international
That has not stopped the club from keeping an eye out for potential striker targets. As reported by Julian Agardi, Chelsea have already approached Woltemade. The English club stated that they were closely monitoring the German international and were exploring the contractual situation. Talks between VfB Stuttgart and the player's side will begin next week on the topic of a salary increase.
Woltemade is coming off an excellent campaign. He scored 17 goals despite playing only 2039 minutes of football, as he was not starting regularly early on in the campaign.
Woltemade has also made two appearances for the Germany national team. Now, is he ready to lead the line for Chelsea? Probably not. But as we have learned in recent years, the club are more concerned about finding potential than proven quality.