Chelsea told to sign ‘perfect’ striker to replace £30m signing | Football

William Gallas has named the striker Enzo Maresca should sign to put Chelsea ‘on top’ once again.

Maresca welcomed two strikers to Stamford Bridge last summer, with Joao Pedro joining from Brighton and Liam Delap arriving from Ipswich Town.

Chelsea spent a combined £90m to sign Pedro and Delap but the pair have only contributed four goals in the Premier League so far this season.

Pedro has fared slightly better than Delap but is still yet to hit the levels he reached at Brighton, where he scored 30 goals in 70 appearances.

A number of clubs were keen to activate Delap’s £30m Ipswich release clause but Chelsea fans have been disappointed with his efforts at Stamford Bridge, with the 22-year-old scoring just once and struggling with injury issues.

Chelsea’s problems in front of goal have contributed to a difficult period for Maresca, who has seen lose two and draw two of their last four games.

The alarming run of form has seen Chelsea slip to fifth in the Premier League – eight points behind leaders Arsenal – and to 13th in the Champions League table.

Chelsea are not expected to be too active in the upcoming January transfer window but Gallas says he still ‘dreams’ of seeing Victor Osimhen join his former club.

Osimhen has been heavily linked with a move to Stamford Bridge over the past 24 months and almost signed for Chelsea in the summer of 2024.

As potential Premier League suitors withdrew interest in Osimhen, the Nigeria international completed a permanent £65m move to Galatasaray last summer.

Osimhen was prolific during his loan spell in Turkey last season – netting 37 goals in 41 games – and has scored a further 11 goals for the club this term.

To be honest, Chelsea, at the moment, I think they are missing one experienced player, and a player who can put Chelsea really on top for me is Victor Osimhen,’ Gallas told OLBG.

‘I wanted to see him sign for Chelsea. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen. But yeah, my dream is to see him play for Chelsea because with his quality, I think he can adapt to Chelsea perfectly.’

On Delap’s struggles in west London, former Chelsea defender Gallas added: ‘I think he has to start taking more risks.

‘He has to try to be the same player he was at Ipswich, where he scored goals. He looked like he was enjoying his football.

‘I know when you move to another club, especially a big club, you get more pressure, you try to do everything right, but no, just be who you are and take some risks and nobody will tell you not to.’

Chelsea lost to Leeds United in their penultimate Premier League game before a goalless draw with Bournemouth at the weekend.

Maresca’s side were then beaten in the Champions League by Atalanta in a result that leaves their automatic qualification hopes hanging by a thread.

Chelsea will be desperate to return to winning ways on Saturday when they play host to Everton, who have enjoyed an impressive run to climb to seventh, one point behind the Blues.

Nicolas Jackson, now at Bayern Munich, scored the only goal in this fixture last season, while the away game at Goodison Park finished goalless.

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