‘Pretty dramatic’… Don’t rule out Chelsea signing £51m player before deadline day

Add as preferred source on Google

Although things have gone quiet recently, it’s long been thought that Chelsea would add a striker in the January transfer window.

Given the long-term injury issues of Christopher Nkunku, Mauricio Pochettino has been bereft of a clinical finisher in front of goal.

Perhaps Cole Palmer would argue otherwise, but it’s clear that Chelsea would benefit from a new striker in January.

That being said, the arrival of a goal-scorer to boost the side’s aspirations does seem dependent on Armando Broja finding a new club.

Chelsea have attached a fairly lofty asking price to Broja, something that is probably proving an issue for the likes of West Ham United and Fulham.

However, according to journalist Luke Edwards, who was speaking on the BBC’s ‘Transfer Gossip Daily’, Chelsea are desperate to get the ball rolling.

Edwards explained that if Chelsea were able to offload Broja in the coming days, then it could spark a bid for Lille striker Jonathan David.

Chelsea could still sign Lille striker Jonathan David before January ends

Edwards explained Chelsea making a move for a new striker like David certainly wasn’t one to rule out in the last few days of January.

He said: “Chelsea not signing a striker this month is one of my big surprises.

“If you had asked me for my predictions of what would happen this month when we started, I would have thought Chelsea signing a striker would be one of them, Newcastle signing a midfielder and Arsenal signing a striker.

“But none of these things have happened. Chelsea are still trying to sell Broja to someone, Fulham are sniffing around. They are vaguely tempted. 

“They might have had a bid turned down over the weekend. They may have a need for a centre-forward. I could not imagine Fulham would be daft enough to spend £50 or £60 million on Broja.

“But they are desperately trying to offload someone. This is the story of this week. I think the next few days could be pretty dramatic actually.

“Everyone is trying to sell players to buy. If Chelsea can persuade Fulham to give them money for Broja, that would free them up to do something like this [Jonathan] David deal.

“He would fit the age profile, he’s not had a particularly good season this year, but he has a good record at Lille. He would cost around £51 million and is only 23.

“We have seen this with Chelsea, they are trying to build this young team, and it’s probably the first sign of a bit of sense coming in.

“Whether they can get David this month I’m not sure, but I wouldn’t rule it out entirely.”

Watch this space

As Edwards explained, a lot of things do need to fall into place for Chelsea to sign a striker like David before January ends.

However, it’s certainly not impossible.

Despite the slower season that Edwards mentioned, six goals in 19 Ligue 1 games, David should still represent a stellar piece of business.

The 23-year-old Canadian has proved his goal-scoring credentials over the last few seasons, and should be much more clinical than Nicolas Jackson for example.

That being said, Chelsea also seem busy attempting to sign a midfielder Tottenham were very interested in.