The left-footed attacker could follow in the Dutchman’s footsteps.
Despite some initial optimism from a positive pre-season and impressive opening game against Liverpool, Chelsea fans are enduring a second season of footballing misery.
The team are currently tenth in the Premier League, and any hope that they might qualify for the Champions League this year has now all but disappeared.
Mauricio Pochettino hasn’t been able to stop his side from conceding, nor has he been able to get them firing, and so it looks like Todd Boehly and co will have to dip back into the transfer market this month to try and stop the season from going from bad to worse.
Dušan Vlahović, the latest player touted for a move to Stamford Bridge, could do just that, especially if he can replicate the form of a fellow left-footed star who dazzled in West London, Arjen Robben.
Chelsea transfer news – Dušan Vlahović
According to reports from Spain, three ‘prestigious’ European clubs are currently circling Juventus’ Serbian international Vlahovic: Paris Saint-Germain, Atlético Madrid, and Chelsea.
The Blues are looking for a forward that can more reliably find the back of the net than their current crop, and the report reveals that they are willing to ‘invest a significant amount’ into the market to do so and that they admire the 23-year-old for his ability to score in different situations.
It’s good that the Pensioners are willing to spend big again this January, as other reports have claimed that the Old Lady are unwilling to sell their star striker for anything less than €60m, which is about £52m.
While that certainly isn’t a small fee, Chelsea’s willingness to spend more than double that amount on other areas of the pitch suggests that they won’t be too fazed, especially for a player Nenad Bjekovic, president of the Serbian FA, described as “better and more complete than Haaland.”
Dušan Vlahović could be Chelsea’s best left-footed player since Arjen Robben
Robben is best known for his impressive spell at German behemoths Bayern Munich, but before that, in the early to mid-2000s, the flying Dutchman was tearing it up in the Premier League, donning the blue of a recently taken over Chelsea.
He might have been playing for a different team in a different country, but his ability to cut inside and punish teams with his magical left foot was just as effective as it ever was in Bavaria, registering 40 goals and assists in just 106 games in all competitions for the west Londoners.
The Blues have been blessed with plenty of brilliant left-footed players in their recent history, Ashley Cole, Petr Cech and Juan Mata, to name just a few, but were Vlahovic to join the team, he could end up as Chelsea’s deadliest left-footed player since Robben.
Moreover, his recent scoring record would also make him the most threatening striker at the club, as while Nicolas Jackson and Armando Broja carry with them a lot of promise, neither one has shown any sort of lethality in front of goal.
| Dušan Vlahović vs Nicolas Jackson vs Armando Broja | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Stats | Vlahović | Jackson | Broja |
| Starts | 11 | 16 | 5 |
| Goals | 6 | 7 | 1 |
| Assists | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Goals + Assists per 90 | 0.74 | 0.56 | 0.23 |
| All Stats via FBref for the 2023/24 Domestic Season | |||
Broja has been disappointing in his short spells, and aside from his hatrick against a nine-man Tottenham Hotspur side – when he really should have got more – Jackson has been incredibly profligate in front of goal.
On the other hand, the Serbian “goal machine”, as dubbed by U23 scout Antonio Mango, has proven that when given chances to score, he’ll take them, a trait Pochettino desperately needs in his team, so if the club can get this deal done, they should.
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