Alvaro Morata had a dream start to his Chelsea career after scoring 8 goals in 13 matches and was only stopped by an unfortunate hamstring injury. The £58 million forward from Real Madrid hit the ground running and proved himself to be an able replacement for Diego Costa.
Despite the injury snag, Morata has been in red-hot form for club and country and has already racked up over 10 goals for his new club. He has proven himself to be an important cog in the Chelsea set-up and his link-up play with Eden Hazard has gotten many Blues fans excited.
However, his injury has shown how sorely Chelsea miss him as they have had frustrating results, ever since the injury of the Spaniard. Morata’s return was capped off with a brilliant performance for the Blues in their deserving 1-0 win over Manchester United recently.
Chelsea’s lack of options up front, coupled with Conte’s lack of willingness to bank on Michy Batshuayi for the big matches, clearly shows their dependency on the 24-year old Spanish forward and the Blues will be hoping to add a dependable back up in January. Here are a few options they can look at:
Moussa Dembele (Celtic):
Celtic forward Moussa Dembele bagged 32 goals in his first season in Scotland which helped Celtic swoop the domestic treble. Despite struggling with injuries this term, he still has eight goals in seventeen games for the Hoops. He has scored a massive 39 goals in just 63 games for the club already and has become their first team hitman above Griffiths. The 21-year-old Frenchman is tipped to become one of the deadliest finishers in Europe and Chelsea would do well to snap him up.
Tammy Abraham:
Sometimes the best options are the ones already in hand. He has scored five goals for the struggling Swansea City where he is on loan at the moment and has demonstrated excellent mental and physical tenacity in leading the line for a team in the English league.
Abraham, who was on loan at Bristol City last season, will be hoping that he can sustain his current streak. If the young Englishman can keep performing, Conte will be compelled with good reason to induct him into the first team ahead of Batshuayi. Such a decision would not only see Chelsea convert a rare youth team product into a first-team player but also save Conte millions from buying another player in the already inflated market.
Daniel Sturridge (Liverpool):
Daniel Sturridge is no longer an integral member of the Liverpool first team. His time at the club has been frustrating this season and the English forward has not played enough despite being fit. He was snubbed for the Three Lions call this time and Conte might want to look at Sturridge as a viable and tested option, who would be keen to join any club where he can play more with the 2018 FIFA World Cup coming up.
