Chelsea are set for a busy summer of transfer business under new manager Xabi Alonso
Chelsea’s roller-coaster 2025/26 campaign is almost done. The Blues’ season started with a Club World Cup win in North America, and sprits were high heading into the new Premier League term. A turbulent winter saw manager Enzo Maresca leave the club, however, and despite a brief resurgence under Liam Rosenior, he ended up exiting too.
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Flash forward to the final gameweek of the season, and Chelsea still haven’t guaranteed European football for next season - they’ll need to avoid losing to away Sunderland and hope results elsewhere go their way. It may well be a return to the Europa Conference League for the Blues, which will mean another season of playing minnows across far flung locations on Thursday evenings.
There is now some reason for cheer, however, following news that Xabi Alonso will begin his reign as Chelsea’s new manager in July. Even better, it’s expected that the ex-Real Madrid boss will have more of a say on recruitment than any of his predecessors under BlueCo, with the owners appearing to be ready to build a side based on what is required now, rather than the future.
A reliable striker is expected to be top of Alonso’s wish list, with backups Liam Delap and Marc Guiu in no way sufficient cover for star forward Joao Pedro. Nicolas Jackson, meanwhile, could well be sold when he returns for his loan spell at Bayern Munich, after failing to impress during his previous frustrating two seasons at Stamford Bridge.
As Alonso most likely sits in the boardroom, tearing his hair out upon being presented with fifty wonderkids as potential purchases by the Blues board, we’ve taken a look at five strikers the club have been linked with signing this summer.
Five top class strikers Chelsea want to sign this summer: Osimhen to Alvarez
Victor Osimhen: He’s a popular choice with Chelsea fans, and the long-term target has been linked with the Blues again since the Alonso announcement. The Blues were said to have turned down the chance to sign the Nigeria international in the past, largely due to his allegedly massive wage demands. In these rather desperate times, they just might be prepared to reconsider.
Since leaving Napoli for Turkish side Galatasaray, the 27-year-old striker has been in typically lethal form in front of goal, scoring 59 times in 74 appearances. His side won’t let him go on the cheap, that’s for sure - they’re likely to demand significantly more than the £62m they spent to sign him permanently last summer following his season-long loan spell.
Igor Thiago: Alternatively, Chelsea may look a little closer to home. A mere six miles from home, actually. Brentford’s recruitment team got it spot-on once again in signing the then relatively unknown Brazilian from Club Brugge last season, and he’s overcome his injury struggles to take on the challenge of replacing Yoane Wissa with aplomb this season, bagging a whopping 22 Premier League goals.
Thiago, 24, was named in Brazil’s World Cup squad over Joao Pedro, and interest in the powerful forward is only likely to increase if he brings his club performances to the international stage in North America. Like Osimhen, he definitely won’t come cheap, especially with his shiny new ‘proven Premier League quality’ tag.
Julian Alvarez: A bit of a leftfield option here, but one worth exploring. The ex-Manchester City gem has been tearing it up in La Liga, after ending a frustrating spell in the Premier League where he was forced to, perhaps understandably, play second fiddle to behemoth striker Erling Haaland.
The Argentinean ace would unquestionably improve Chelsea’s attacking options, and they have been linked, but if he were to leave Los Colchoneros then a move to PSG, Arsenal or Barcelona - where he could continue to play Champions League football - seems far more likely. A pipedream? Probably. But you never know - the Alonso factor might just lure him in.
Five top class strikers Chelsea want to sign this summer: Brobbey to Esposito
Pio Esposito: A member of the 3 Added Minutes team would like it to be known that they once signed the Inter 20-year-old forward on Football Manager, and he proved to be a disastrous, big-money flop. Whether Behdad Eghbali and his colleagues will take this into account when deciding whether to sign the Italy international remains to be seen.
Rumours have emerged in recent weeks claiming Chelsea hold a keen interest in the Sicilian striker, but he just doesn’t fit the profile of what the squad really needs right now. They’d do better to consider a more experienced option, lest the training ground become legally classified as a kindergarten.
Brian Brobbey: The superbly named Dutchman is another youngster who’s been mentioned as a possibility for the Blues since Alonso’s arrival, with the recruitment team seemingly impressed by his debut Premier League campaign with Sunderland. However, he’s netted seven times in 31 matches for the Black Cats, which isn’t exactly prolific.
Like Esposito, he falls very much into the ‘raw talent’ category, and surely isn’t ready to be Chelsea’s first choice striker next season. If Alonso were to sign two strikers, then perhaps Brobbey would be a decent understudy to the first-choice option, but that would of course mean moving Joao Pedro into a new position, and the squad is over-stocked in other attacking areas already.
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