When Chelsea failed to sign Victor Osimhen or Ivan Toney on transfer deadline day last summer, it was always clear that they would be left short. Not even Enzo Maresca's claims that he saw Christopher Nkunku as a striker covered for the reality.
Chelsea chose to enter the season without a senior backup for Nicolas Jackson. Nkunku has never been an orthodox No.9, and Maresca quickly backtracked on his initial comments.
Marc Guiu, who was 18 when signed from Barcelona over the summer, was always a raw and future-based signing rather than genuine first-team competition. That is exactly how things played out, as well.
Chelsea's demands for a new centre forward were apparent last year having been left to rely on Jackson under Mauricio Pochettino. He lost Nkunku to injury and Armando Broja remained sidelined or lacked match sharpness throughout.
By deadline day, panic had already set in throughout the fanbase. Heading into a second consecutive season with the club's striker prospects hinging on the consistency of Jackson's finishing, his continued rate of development and improvement, as well as his fitness, was a huge risk.
Jackson had gone from being a left-winger for Villarreal in his first senior season of top-flight football in Spain, to leading the line for Chelsea every single week. It is no surprise he eventually buckled or that it came during an extended run without a goal.
It leaves the picture very clear for the upcoming window. Chelsea, as they have done for the past three summers, need a striker. Even Jackson himself wasn't meant to be the only one for 2023/24.
So what is Chelsea's answer? There isn't a definite answer here. Unlike in 2021 when it was Romelu Lukaku - a transfer which failed not for sporting reasons but for other things entirely - or in 2018 when it was also Lukaku but Chelsea instead ended up with Alvaro Morata, there is not one obvious choice.
Deadline day last year got narrowed down to Toney or Osimhen. They have a long-standing interest in Victor Gyokeres but have tried to keep the distance from him previously as well. Benjamin Sesko is another on the club's radar.
Osimhen is likely to still be someone of note given his excellent scoring spree in Turkey has kept him firing during this 12-month period of limbo. Liam Delap is the Premier League-proven name. None of these are going to be cheap and all will want playing time assurances which could grate with Jackson.
Where do Chelsea look, though? There are a lot of teams in the market for a striker. Arsenal need one, so do Manchester United. If Liverpool sell Darwin Nunez then Arne Slot will be after a centre-forward too.
Arsenal's focus appears to be on Alexander Isak. He is hardly worth mentioning as he would command upwards of £100million, if not closer to £150million. Isak is possibly the best striker in the world. Chelsea will do well to get him, if they even try.
Alexander Isak celebrates the 2nd goal during the Carabao Cup Final between Liverpool and Newcastle United at Wembley Stadium
(Image: Photo by Nigel French/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images)
The main three are Gyokeres, Osimhen, and Delap. Outsiders include Sesko, but Arsenal have been firmly looking at him, as have United. Some potential red flags there are his finishing numbers, which football.london has looked at here, raising concerns over his reliability.
Before trying to answer who out of the trio above is the best fit for Chelsea, perhaps the question should instead be what do Chelsea actually want. Is this someone to replace Jackson flat out, making him the clear No.9 and competitor? Is this someone to just battle with Jackson or maybe even play with him after the experience on the left? Or is this a buy based on the future and what might come?
Given Chelsea's track record, you are inclined to think that it will be a youthful prospect still learning the ropes. That player needs to be more ready for senior football in the Premier League than Guiu was, for example. This makes Delap a prime candidate.
He is from the Manchester City academy - which chimes with the recent history of recruitment directors Laurence Stewart and recruitment Joe Shields, as well as Maresca, Cole Palmer, and Romeo Lavia, who all knew Delap from their youth days. He is 22, which allows room to develop and grow. Delap will have played three seasons in the men's game come the summer.
This is all very promising. He holds the ball up nicely and is a serious physical presence. His finishing is strong, and he has scored 10 times for a team set for relegation. With Ipswich Town almost certain to go down, his price will surely drop.
Delap will be the cheapest of the trio here and he is the least exposed at the elite level, even if he is the only one to score in the Premier League so far. The risk being taken with this deal is that Delap is yet to his double figures for goals from open play in his senior career so far. He has 10 for Ipswich but two are penalties - albeit ones that he won.
It is hard to predict how Delap might adapt to a possession-heavy team. His youth numbers are very good but that's not the same as being up against physical defenders in a low block, something Ipswich have not faced this year.
He does have a lot of scalable attributes, such as his ability to shield possession, trapping it and occupying opponents. This is something Jackson has improved greatly but he prefers to twist and turn out away, wriggling free with the ball whilst attempting flicks and tricks to get away. Delap is a lot more forceful and uses his frame to get between man and ball.
He is a different profile to Jackson, which is useful in providing extra options. He does not provide the immediate upgrade or needle-moving that many would hope for, though.
(Image: Michael Regan/Getty Images.)
It is Osimhen and Gyokeres, both seasoned goalscorers in European leagues and the Champions League, who get most of the attention. Starting with Osimhen, his appeal is understandable.
He is probably the most 'Old Chelsea' striker out there. He is a match-winner with game-changing instincts. He does not need to be involved to score and can create something out of nothing.
Osimhen is an excellent finisher from all angles and can do it with his head. Inside the box he is technically brilliant and shoots quickly and often when on the ball. The 26-year-old is quick and has physical assets as well.
The questions for him surround build-up play. How would Osimhen fare if asked to play in tight spaces and condensed areas of the pitch? His answer would be to get the ball to him in the box and to let him fly.
Osimhen's snub of Chelsea last summer by not easing up on his lofty contract demands could risk him being unpopular at Chelsea but it is goals that speak more than anything to supporters. Osimhen feels like the sort of striker Roman Abramovich's Chelsea would have signed. That may well strike him off the list.
So the one in the middle is Gyokeres. He has scored 57 league goals since joining Sporting CP in 2023 but in all competitions for club and country that rises to 92 goals.
Sporting striker Viktor Gyokeres
Sporting striker Viktor Gyokeres (Image: Getty Images)
The massive caveat for Gyokeres is that the Portuguese league is near enough impossible to translate over to the Premier League. Nunez, again, is evidence of that.
His goals for Sporting come with more space to run into and for a team designed to trigger his movement into the channels and in behind. He is the keystone for Sporting whereas that might not be the case for Chelsea, who favour slow build-up under Maresca and most good things tend to go through Palmer.
Gyokeres is undoubtedly the most in-form player here but he has benefited from 15 penalties in the last two seasons. Perhaps his 38 league goals for Coventry City are a better representation of a player ready to score in the Premier League.
He would be 27 by the time a deal was completed, putting him at the very top of Chelsea's age range. There have been previous concerns over the speed at which Gyokeres shoots and the number of touches he needs, something which would only be extenuated in England.
What this all shows is that for three of the top strikers on the market there are major pros and cons for them all. Chelsea's task is to sift through the noise to see where the scalable and worthwhile purchase is.
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Chelsea flag prior the UEFA Champions League Quarter Final Leg One match between Chelsea FC and Real Madrid at Stamford Bridge. (Photo by Jose Breton/Pics Action/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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