Chelsea’s Champions League push continues.
On Sunday, the Blues claimed a vital 3-1 victory over the newly-crowned Premier League champions Liverpool at Stamford Bridge; Enzo Fernández broke the deadlock inside three minutes, a freak own goal doubled their advantage, before Cole Palmer ended his goal draught by converting a stoppage time penalty.
Having now won three Premier League games on the spin, Enzo Maresca’s side remain fifth, three points clear of both Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa, desperately hoping to cling onto the final Champions League position.
Regardless of whether they remain in the top five places or not, Chelsea are set to spend big this summer, because that’s simply become their modus operandi under Todd Boehly’s ownership, so could they get their hands on a new centre-forward?
Chelsea seeking to sign a new striker
Some notable names have been linked with a move to the Bridge this summer with the likes of Ipswich Town forward Liam Delap and Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins reportedly on their radar.
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Now, according to a report by journalist Graeme Bailey, Chelsea are “keeping close tabs” on RB Leipzig striker Benjamin Sesko, with Arsenal and Liverpool both described as ‘huge admirers’.
Sesko’s team are ‘in active talks’ with those three clubs as the German side aim to rake in a reported £70m for his signature.
It looked as though the Slovenian would be on the move last summer but signed a new contract in Leipzig, just as Chelsea and Arsenal were ‘ready to trigger’ his then £55m release clause, according to Ed Aarons of the Guardian.
Now though, Sesko appears to be ready to move on from the Bundesliga, so where would he fit in at Stamford Bridge?
Why Sesko would be an upgrade on Nkunku
As reported by Sky Sports Deutschland this weekend, Christopher Nkunku ‘has decided to leave Chelsea’ at the end of the season, with Fabrizio Romano adding that the Frenchman is ‘keen’ to depart the club.
Nkunku was not even a substitute for Sunday’s win over Liverpool, nor last Thursday’s victory over Djurgården in Stockholm, with manager Maresca later confirming he will be sidelined for a fortnight due to a “small problem”.
The 27-year-old, who himself arrived from RB Leipzig for £52m two summers ago, has never managed to establish himself as a key figure in West London, as the table below outlines.
Appearances
56
Minutes
2,555
Starts
24
PL appearances
38
PL starts
11
Matches missed injured
36
Matches an unused sub
7
Apps 15 minutes or less
15
Goals
17
PL goals
6
UECL goals
7
Assists
5
As the table emphasises, the French forward has never been a regular in Chelsea’s starting lineups, especially in the league.
He has scored 14 goals this season, but seven of these have come in the Conference League, while he was also on target against Morecambe in the FA Cup, having bagged a hat-trick against Barrow in the EFL Cup.
So, with bearing in mind he also played/plays for Leipzig, would Sesko avoid a similar fate?
Well, all available evidence suggests that, whoever gets their hands on the striker this summer, will have secured the services of an exceptional striker.
Analyst Ben Mattinson believes he possesses “electric pace”, impressed by his “two-footed ball-striking” ability, while Jacek Kulig of Football Talent Scout exclaims that he is “a superb centre-forward in the making”.
So, let’s take a look at the powerful forward’s Bundesliga statistics this season.
Goals
13
8th
35th
Assists
5
28th
117th
Shots
65
11th
162nd
Shots on target
29
11th
46th
Goals – xG
+3
11th
43rd
While his statistics may not leap off the page, Sesko’s screamer against Bayern Munich on Saturday took his tally to 21 for the season across all competitions, four of which came in the Champions League, to go with the 18 he managed last time round.
He also scored five times in this year’s UEFA Nations League, a tally only bettered by Viktor Gyökeres, Erling Haaland, Cristiano Ronaldo and Razvan Marin; pretty eclectic company to keep.
Alex Barker of Breaking the Lines believes the Slovenian striker to be a ‘generational’ talent, while Raphael Honigstein and Mark Carey of the Athletic forecast that he’ll continue to develop and get better, hence why Soham Mukherjee of Goal labels him ‘one of the hottest names in the European transfer market’.
Thus, Sesko would surely be an excellent signing for Chelsea, representing a clear upgrade on the wantaway Nkunku.
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