Chelsea begin their FIFA Club World Cup campaign on Monday night when facing off against LAFC out in Atlanta.
All eyes are on the potential of Liam Delap making his Blues debut in the American heat, with the former Ipswich Town attacker no doubt keen to be Enzo Maresca's main marksman next season when Premier League action gets back underway.
ipswich-town-liam-delap-premier-league
If he impresses in pre-season, he stands a healthy chance of being just that for Chelsea.
But, the West Londoners might not be done with flashy striker additions after Delap's arrival at Stamford Bridge, with a new striker target an arguable upgrade on the ex-Manchester City forward, among other faces being tipped to make the switch to the English capital.
Chelsea keeping tabs on £67m ace
After they completed a move for Delap, there has been frenzied interest in another of their targets in Hugo Ekitike. The latest on that move, according to Sky Germany's Florian Plettenberg, is that Man United have expressed their interest in the player, yet Liverpool and Chelsea remain in the race.
If they are beaten to the Frenchman's signing, who could they focus their efforts on instead?
Indeed, according to one GOAL transfer correspondent, Chelsea are one of the teams to have held talks over signing Victor Osimhen.
The report states that eight clubs dotted all around Europe have made contact with the Nigerian goal machine, with fellow Premier League clubs Manchester United and Arsenal looking at the current Galatasaray ace, alongside Juventus, PSG Milan and Real Madrid.
Osimhen-Chelsea
Whilst Ekitike could cost in the region of £85m to obtain, Osmihen might well be available for a more workable £67m, according to prior reportsas per reports, meaning he could now be Chelsea's desired target to improve their forward positions even more.
How Osimhen would be an upgrade on Ekitike & Delap
If Maresca's side were to land Osimhen, he would be viewed as an upgrade on both the much-talked-about Eintracht Frankfurt striker and Delap, with the 26-year-old a well-known goalscoring menace throughout his varied career, not just when plying his trade in Turkey.
Whilst Chelsea would be purchasing Ekitike with the future in mind, alongside also wanting to get even more out of Delap after a blistering season in Suffolk, Osimhen would be the finished article already on his arrival in West London.
After all, wherever he's been across his career so far, the "world class" forward - as he's been glowing labelled by Sky Sports' Dougie Critchley - has largely shone, which can't be said for the £85m-rated attacker nor a growing Delap.
Osimhen's G/A record by club
Club played for
Napoli
Galatasaray
Lille
Royal Charleroi S.C.
Wolfsburg
Sourced by Transfermarkt
The mightily impressive numbers from the table above certainly back up Critchley's wild claims, with Osimhen up to a staggering 151 career goals now off the back of firing home a lethal 37 strikes for Galatasaray.
Of course, the Nigerian striker did suffer from a barren patch towards the start of his career with Wolfsburg, but his electric goalscoring numbers have more than made up for it since.
Galatasaray's Victor Osimhen celebrates after the match-1
Ekitike does have a slight upper hand on his more senior striker rival, considering he has bagged 26 goals in the Bundesliga to date, but he only has 18 more strikes to shout about in senior action away from his breakout stint in Frankfurt.
Therefore, splashing out a whopping £85m on a centre-forward figure who is more inexperienced than Osimhen and less potent would be a big risk.
Moreover, Delap is only a season down in the Premier League and could find being Chelsea's leading star in attack all on his own to be a daunting challenge, considering further that he has only 12 top-flight strikes next to his name across his fledgling career.
Whereas, Osmihen - who has been dubbed as being "even better than Haaland" by agent Andrea D'Amico - would surely relish the chance to be another leading star in another top European division, as Chelsea prepare to do battle in the Champions League next season.
Frankfurt striker Hugo Ekitike-1 Related
[Chelsea can sign a bigger talent than Ekitike with move for £65m "maverick"](https://www.footballfancast.com/chelsea-could-forget-hugo-ekitike-by-signing-jhon-duran/ "Chelsea can sign a bigger talent than Ekitike with move for £65m "maverick"")
Chelsea could have the chance to reignite a move for a former target