In the wake of Chelsea hopelessly falling short of their pursuit for a striker, Antonio Conte has reportedly set his sights on an unlikely target to lead the lines. With Romelu Lukaku joining Manchester United in a big money move, at least to the tune of £75m, The Blues are looking into the availability of Javier Hernandez valued at around £13m.
While it is understood that Chelsea is on the lookout for a high profile striker in the market, the addition of Hernandez, popularly known as Chicharito, would provide much needed cover to whoever is designated first choice striker at the Stamford Bridge outfit, in a long season that would see The Blues compete at multiple fronts.
The former Manchester United striker’s familiarity with English football is sure to come in handy as the want-away striker is reportedly interested at another shot at the Premier League where he was quite prolific. The striker, currently with German side Bayer Leverkusen, has the distinction of holding one of the most prolific minutes-per-goal ratios in the Premier League. The all-time leading scorer for Mexico shone quite brilliantly in an underwhelming season for Leverkusen with the club narrowly avoiding relegation.
An out and out poacher like the Mexican can make use of Chelsea’s fluid supply lines manned by the likes of Eden Hazard, Pedro, Willian and Cesc Fabregas. The striker managed to find the net 11 times in 26 appearances last season in an insipid Leverkusen side; a marauding Chelsea side led by Hernandez could turn out to be a rather scary proposition and possibly the transfer of the season.
While Chelsea still reserves an interest in Real Madrid’s Alvaro Morata, Los Blancos’ outrageous valuation of the player is proving to be a stumbling block with Chelsea refusing to pay almost £78m for a striker who was the second choice throughout the course of Real’s La Liga and Champions League winning season. With James Rodriguez joining Bayern Munich on a two-year loan deal, it is believed that the Zinedine Zidane led side wants to fund the transfer of AS Monaco wonder-kid Kylian Mbappe with the Morata money.
Chelsea are also reportedly looking into the possibility of securing the services of Torino’s Andrea Belotti whose release clause is valued at 100 million Euros. The Stamford Bridge outfit is also believed to be hot on the heels of Pierre Emerick Aubameyang, but with none of the deals close to completion, a backup striker with the know-how of Premier League football could make for a good signing under the circumstances.
