With Sunday’s 5-0 Premier League victory over West Ham United, Chelsea kept moving closer to European qualification.
With their outstanding performance, the Blues annihilated David Moyes’ team at Stamford Bridge and are now in the running for a top-six finish.
Three goals in the first half gave Mauricio Pochettino a commanding advantage at halftime: Cole Palmer, Conor Gallagher, and Noni Madueke.
The second half belonged to center forward Nicolas Jackson, who scored twice in the final half to put the finishing touches on the 5-0 victory.
According to reports, the club is looking to add another number nine to their roster during the summer transfer window, even though the Senegalese international has been scoring goals recently.But, they may buy a striker to complement or rival Jackson and create a formidable Chelsea forward line. This could be the case with the player they are presently courting.
Chelsea initiates transfer talks for Serie A sensationThe Blues are reportedly interested in signing Napoli center forward Victor Osimhen this summer, as reported on the website of Italian journalist Gianluca Di Marzio.
According to the source, the Premier League club has started talks with the Serie A club about potentially signing the Nigeria international for the upcoming 2024–25 season.
It says that Chelsea will meet with the Italian club to discuss a possible deal for Romelu Lukaku, a young player who has not been identified, and a transfer fee of up to €90 million (£77 million) for the striker.You can see from the table above that Lukaku has had a respectable season with Roma on loan in Serie A, outscoring his xG by slightly more than two goals.
It is unclear, though, whether Napoli would be willing to trade their star marksman for the Belgium international, who will turn 31 this month.
According to the source, Osimhen is not the only club interested in Chelsea’s services; the French powerhouse Paris Saint-Germain is reportedly also keen on signing him this summer.
On the other hand, it says that finding a new head coach is Napoli’s current priority, so they might not decide what happens to their prolific striker until then.
From next season onward, whether they are playing together or battling for a slot, the Nigerian star and Jackson might build a terrific friendship if Todd Boehly and his team are able to reach an agreement to bring him to Stamford Bridge.
The Chelsea Premier League performance of Nicolas JacksonThe 22-year-old striker’s debut season in the Premier League with the club has been a mixed bag since his permanent summer transfer from Villarreal of Spain.
He has been solid up until Sunday’s double against the Hammers, but his finishing has been lacking this season. In his last five Premier League matches, he has scored four goals and assisted on two more.
Considering that Jackson has made 32 appearances in the top flight and has an expected goals (xG) of 17.14, the forward should have scored roughly four more goals than what he has.
The youthful marksman has been extremely wasteful in front of goal and has failed to capitalize on the high-quality opportunities that his teammates have set up for him, as evidenced by his 22 missed “big chances” in the league, in addition to his 13 goals.
Despite his lаck оf finishing skill, ex-LаLigа greаt Jаcksоn is а cоntinuаl threаt in the finаl third аs а scоrer аnd creаtоr, being inside the tоp 5% оf Premier Leаgue аttаckers fоr nоn-penаlty xG аnd xаG (Expected аssisted Gоаls) per 90 with 0.76.The brilliаnt аce still hаs lоts оf time tо grоw аnd imprоve; оsimhen’s signing might prоvide him а greаt finisher tо study, аnd his аbility tо plаy оn either flаnk meаns he cоuld plаy in the аttаck аlоngside the striker. He’s 22 yeаrs оld.
Justification for Victor Osimhen’s Chelsea signingThe 25-year-old central forward has been on fire for Napoli since the 2022–23 season began, so he might be a dangerous scorer when he arrives at Stamford Bridge.
Osimhen was referred to as “world-class” by Jose Mourinho, the former Chelsea manager, earlier this season. He was among the top one percent of Serie A strikers last term in terms of both non-penalty goals per 90 and non-penalty xG stats.
The table below shows that the Italian team won the league thanks in large part to the spectacular goal-scoring performance of the Nigerian phenomenon.