rewrite this title Better than Ferguson: Chelsea looking at signing “the hottest CF in Europe”

Heading into the final 48 hours of the window, Chelsea have been sitting ducks up to now in the transfer market, waiting for their opportunity to strike.

Enzo Maresca’s side have suffered a poor drop-off in form in recent weeks, and fans are now expecting their goal-scoring issues to be addressed in this window, either adding a direct left-winger or a box dominant centre-forward to the squad.

Any additions could also see some departures, with João Félix and Christopher Nkunku both potentially facing the exit door having played understudy to Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson so far this campaign.

Chelsea monitoring new striker

According to reports from The Telegraph, Chelsea are “making checks” on Sporting striker, Viktor Gyokeres, along with a list of other players including Ipswich’s Liam Delap, Brighton’s Evan Ferguson and RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko.

Chelsea’s only natural senior centre-forward is Jackson, with Nkunku playing as a deputy striker so far this season despite preferring to play as a number ten, and Marc Guiu, who is just 18-years-old, getting the odd chance to prove himself in Conference League games too.

Gyokeres has made 33 appearances for Sporting so far this season, scoring 34 goals and, providing seven assists, proving himself to be “the hottest striker in Europe”.

How Viktor Gyokeres compares to Evan Ferguson

Ferguson has been linked with a big move away from Brighton since breaking through in the 2022/23 season, where he scored six Premier League goals in 19 appearances, aged 17.

Fast-forward to now, the 20-year-old has suffered from some injury issues, playing just 390 minutes this season, scoring one goal.

When comparing Gyokeres to Ferguson, the metrics are night and day. Gyokeres is already the finished article, creating for himself and others, providing instant output and still being effective in all phases, dropping to help link play and running the channels.

Ferguson has shown he can be a clinical finisher, averaging 0.22 goals/shot in the 2022/23 season, and winning more aerial duels with 0.85 per 90 in that term. Whilst the Irishman has plenty of potential as a box-dominant striker, Gyokeres offers an instant solution, whereas the Brighton ace remains a slightly unknown quantity due to his injury problems over the past few seasons.

Portugal head coach, Roberto Martinez, has labelled Gyokeres “one of the best signings in Europe” signings in Europe, joining Sporting from Coventry in 2023 for around £20m. The Sweden international has gone on to score 77 goals in 83 appearances, providing 22 assists.

Thus, Chelsea would be getting an elite finisher in the Sweden international, someone who has a track record of scoring at an incredibly high rate, which could be the difference between the Blues getting three points in some games, instead of one. The extra physicality would also help in regards to creation, allowing wingers to cross with more of a target than Jackson in the box.