The summer transfer window is officially open, meaning clubs around Europe will be trying to improve their squad. Chelsea were able to add Liam Delap before the Club World Cup but the Blues will know that there is a lot of work to be done if they want to progress moving forward after a promising 24/25 campaign, despite plenty of stumbles along the way.
Even though Chelsea have signed Delap, it is very possible that they might try to bring in another striker in this window. The future of Nicolas Jackson is uncertain after a couple of underwhelming seasons at Stamford Bridge.
For many Chelsea fans, Alexander Isak would be the dream signing. But bringing him in at this point might be pretty much impossible. Instead, they are being linked with someone who has drawn comparisons with the Swede.
The player we are talking about is Hugo Ekitike. There have been some rumours that Chelsea have stepped back from the transfer race due to the high asking fee. But that might not be the case.
Fabrizio Romano confirms Chelsea talks with €100m player
Fabrizio Romano has confirmed that Ekitike remains in talks with Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United. He wrote in his column for GIVEMESPORT:
"No, he’s considering all options and still talking to all these clubs [Manchester United, Liverpool, and Chelsea]. No decision has been made yet."
There have been suggestions that Chelsea are not willing to meet Eintracht Frankfurt's €100 million asking fee. It remains to be seen if there is room for negotiation or not.
There is no doubt that Ektike is a phenomenal talent. But there are a lot of question marks around his suitability for the Premier League. Firstly, he seems to lack the physicality required to succeed in England. Secondly, the underlying numbers show that his finishing was even worse than Jackson's last season. Thirdly, he seems to struggle against teams that sit back and play a low block. None of those sounds like a good fit for being Chelsea's number 9.