The candidates are strikers of a different mould.
Michy Batshuayi’s time at Chelsea has had its moments, but overall it’s been a disappointment.
Batshuayi went to Chelsea from Marseille in the summer of 2016, but was always second choice behind Diego Costa and more recently, behind Álvaro Morata.
He has only made 20 appearances for Chelsea in all competitions so far this season, mostly from the bench. In that time he has scored 7 goals; not a bad return, but besides that he has contributed very little.
The Belgian disappointed in Chelsea’s FA Cup stalemate against Norwich on Saturday and is likely to be loaned out for the rest of the season, as Matt Law reports in The Telegraph.
According to the Telegraph’s report, Chelsea have lined up two targets to replace Batshuayi: Andy Carroll and Christian Benteke. It seems that Chelsea are looking for a target man striker who can provide change a game from the bench – they were also linked to Fernando Llorente last summer.
This comes as somewhat of a surprise given Álvaro Morata’s record this season; his goals have dried up but no-one has been more prolific in the air.
Alvaro Morata has scored more headed goals (6) than any other player in Europe's top 5 Leagues.
Lethal in the air. pic.twitter.com/lwhAKDplLj
— Squawka (@Squawka) December 27, 2017
Before the January transfer window opened Antonio Conte revealed that the club would have the final say on transfers, so Carroll and Benteke are very much the club’s targets as opposed to the manager’s.
But it’s always difficult to find value in the January window, and despite not playing at his best this season, Benteke is indispensable to Palace given that he is their only fit out and out striker. It would cost far too much to prize him away.
West Ham, on the other hand, have a plethora of forward players, but David Moyes will probably want to keep hold of Carroll in their bid to survive in the top flight as very few – if any – strikers possess his aerial ability.
Chelsea may have to look elsewhere for a short term fix to their striker issue.
