Chelsea are closing in on the signing of Danny Welbeck from Brighton - could he buck the trend of flop strikers at Stamford Bridge?
If asked to count on one hand the number of successful striker signings Chelsea have made over the past decade, you’d have enough fingers left to then firmly grip a pen and write down an extensive list of those who failed to cut the mustard. The Blues’ bad habit of signing dire forwards has plagued them for decades, with a host of high profile names arriving at Stamford Bridge before completely imploding.
This summer, the Blues look set to shake up their attacking line again, with the likes of Liam Delap, Marc Guiu and Nicolas Jackson all tipped to be tossed, leaving only star man Joao Pedro and some academy players to carry the burden of leading Chelsea’s attacking line. Enter Danny Welbeck: The club’s new 35-year-old striker, who’s set to join this week.
The ex-Manchester United and Arsenal forward’s arrival is part of new manager Xabi Alonso’s plan to get some experienced leaders into the squad, which currently boasts an average age similar to your typical Cub Scout unit. Welbeck, who turns 36 before Christmas, had a stellar 2025/26 campaign, netting 13 Premier League goals for Brighton.
There was mild uproar among some sections of the Blues fan base upon the news of Welbeck’s imminent arrival, but it’s clear that the 42-cap England international won’t be tasked with spearheading Chelsea’s attack every week - he’ll be restricted to cameo appearances and covering injuries where necessary, while filling the leadership void that has held back the Blues over the past couple of seasons.
Ahead of Welbeck being officially announced as Chelsea’s sixth new summer signing, we’ve taken a look back at every other striker the club have signed over the past decade, giving them a rating out of ten. Buckle up, you’re in for a bumpy ride...
Rating every Chelsea striker signing since summer 2016 - Batshuayi to Giroud
Alvaro Morata was unable to kick on after a promising start at Chelseaplaceholder image
Alvaro Morata was unable to kick on after a promising start at Chelsea | Getty Images
Michy Batshuayi - £33m from Marseille: In June 2016, 51.89% of the British public voted to catastrophically shoot themselves in the foot with a certain summer referendum. Just over a week later, Chelsea took a similarly self-destructive approach to the transfer window, blowing £33m on Michy Batshuayi. They also sold Mohamed Salah to Roma for £15m a month later.
Confusingly nicknamed ‘Batsman’ in homage to the Caped Crusader and not, it transpires, Joe Root, the 22-year-old arrived with plenty of hype, but ended up looking more like one of the Joker’s hapless goons than the Dark Knight. He scored just eight goals in 48 Premier League appearances for Chelsea, and went out on no fewer than four separate loan spells before eventually leaving the club over eight years after joining them.
A couple of things to note at this juncture: Batshuayi was technically a Premier League winner with Chelsea, so credit where credit’s due. That said, so was Kenedy. The Blues also signed Patrick Bamford that season, but given that he never made a senior appearance for the club, he doesn’t make the list. Rating: 2/10.
Alvaro Morata - £58m from Real Madrid: The following summer, Chelsea’s star man Diego Costa made it clear he wanted to leave the club, and didn’t play another game for the side before leaving in January. Morata joined once it became clear Costa was done, and got off to a flying start, scoring seven goals in eight matches.
Things went swiftly downhill, however. The Spain international went through a series of games where he spurned chance after chance, completely losing all the confidence he’d built up during his impressive start. Manager Antonio Conte left at the end of the season, and new boss Mauricio Sarri didn’t fancy Morata at all - he left in January the following season, with 24 goals scored in over two-and-a-half seasons at Stamford Bridge. Rating: 3/10.
Olivier Giroud - £18m from Arsenal: Arsenal ended up seriously regretting this decision. The towering Frenchman proved to be an absolute bargain, spending four years at the club and winning the FA Cup, Europa League and Champions League. He was the Europa League’s top scorer in the year Chelsea triumphed, and was the club’s leading marksman in their run to winning the Champions League - the highlight being a stunning overhead kick against Atletico Madrid in the Last 16 round. Rating: 8/10.
Rating every Chelsea striker signing since summer 2016 - Higuain to Lukaku
German striker Timo Werner failed to bring his Bundesliga form to the Premier League with Chelseaplaceholder image
German striker Timo Werner failed to bring his Bundesliga form to the Premier League with Chelsea | POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Gonzalo Higuain - Loan from Real Madrid: Another less than glorious Chelsea tradition is their habit of signing strikers well past their best. They did it with Andriy Shevchenko, they did it with Radamel Falcao, they did it with Claudio Pizarro, they did it with Alexandre Pato, they did it with Samuel Eto’o. And then they did it with Higuain.
Arriving on loan in January 2019, the once prolific forward looked several yards off the pace, and simply couldn’t compete in the rough and tumble of relentless Premier League football. He did at least manage to score five goals during his six-month loan spell, but overall, his brief stay at Stamford Bridge was a waste of everyone’s time. Rating: 2/10.
Timo Werner - £48m from RB Leipzig: Due to a transfer ban, Chelsea could sign nobody in the summer of 2019. The following season, they went all-guns blazing in the summer window, with Timo Werner among their new acquisitions, alongside the likes of Kai Havertz and Hakim Ziyech. Werner left fans rather wishing the ban had stayed in place.
The German striker failed to recapture the stunning Bundesliga form that saw the Blues go after him in the first place, missing golden chance after golden chance, smashing endless efforts into the woodwork and constantly being called offside. That said, you could never question the player’s work rate, and his relentless pressing certainly helped his teammates find the goals that he couldn’t. Rating: 3/10.
Romelu Lukaku - £98m from Inter: The Blues smashed their transfer record to bring Lukaku back to the club, after his scintillating Serie A form made him one of the most desirable strikers in Europe. He got off to a flying start, scoring four goals in as many games, the highlight being a complete demolition of Arsenal’s defence early on in the season.
In December, he gave an infamous interview in which he professed his love for Inter and questioned the tactical system deployed by manager Thomas Tuchel. This, as you might imagine, went down like a lead balloon. He went on to infamously break the Premier League record for the fewest touches in a ninety minute game, before going back on loan to Inter the following season. Another loan to Roma followed, before he eventually joined Napoli in 2024, for a mere £25m. Rating: 1/10.
Rating every Chelsea striker signing since summer 2016 - Aubameyang to Delap
Joao Pedro has been Chelsea's best striker since Olivier Giroudplaceholder image
Joao Pedro has been Chelsea's best striker since Olivier Giroud | Getty Images
Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang - £10m from Barcelona: In came Chelsea’s new owners, whose entire transfer history at the club has been put under the microscope right here. They saw all those lovely goals the ex-Arsenal striker had been scoring across Europe’s top leagues, and got him for what looked like a bargain fee. He scored a mere three goals in 22 half hearted appearances, before jetting off to Marseille. Rating: 2/10.
Nicolas Jackson - £32m from Villarreal: And so began the Blues’ era of signing promising players simply not ready for Premier League football. Jackson, to his credit, scored thirty goals across his first two seasons at Chelsea, but his poor discipline and - much like Morata and Werner before him - inability to hit the target consistently saw him continually frustrate the Stamford Bridge faithful. He’s widely expected to leave this summer. Rating: 5/10.
Christopher Nkunku - £52m from RB Leipzig: A prolific, versatile Bundesliga striker costing around £50m? Chelsea had seen this horror film before, but appeared to have forgotten the ending. Nkunku’s stint with the Blues got off to a nightmare start, when he was injured on an appalling pitch during a money-spinning pre-season friendly in Chicago. He never fully recovered, leaving after just two injury-ravaged seasons: Rating: 3/10.
Marc Guiu: £5m from Barcelona: Another of Chelsea’s ‘buy-‘em-young-flip-’em-’quick’ signings, Guiu was always signed with a view to selling him a season or two later, with little regard for how the raw forward would help the squad in the meantime. Like Jackson, he’ll most likely leave Chelsea this summer, but he hasn’t really played enough football to justify too harsh a rating. Rating: 4/10.
Joao Pedro: £55m from Brighton: At last, a success! The Brazilian gem has been Chelsea’s best striker since Giroud, dazzling initially at the Club World Cup before going on to score twenty goals in his debut season at the club. He’ll be the Blues’ main man up top this season, and will be looking to go from strength to strength under new boss Alonso. Rating: 9/10.
Liam Delap - £30m from Ipswich Town: Rounding us off in suitably bleak fashion, the latest Chelsea striker signing was that of Delap, who netted just a single Premier League goal in his debut campaign with the Blues. He bustled and jostled with the best of them, but simply couldn’t hit find the back of the net. He’ll be off this summer too, you’d imagine. Rating: 2/10. Right, somebody climb the ladder and light the Welbeck-Signal...