Chelsea\u2019s summer planning appears to be centred around one major question: what do they really want their attack to look like next season? The main name as per sources is Dusan Vlahovic, with Chelsea said to be exploring the Serbian as a serious option if they decide to reshape their striker department, sources close to the agents industry have informed CaughtOffside<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n TEAMtalk previously reported that Chelsea had been in contact with the player\u2019s representatives.<\/p>\n That free-agent angle is what makes the deal interesting. Chelsea have spent heavily in recent years, so signing a proven striker without a transfer fee would be a smart financial move.<\/p>\n Chelsea are not only looking at Vlahovic. Ollie Watkins remains a strong Premier League-proven option, although Sky Sports reported last year that Aston Villa considered him not for sale and valued him at around \u00a360m.<\/p>\n Brentford\u2019s Igor Thiago is another name to watch. Francesco Pio Esposito would be more of a long-term investment, but that deal also looks difficult, with reports suggesting that the player is happy at Inter.<\/p>\n Victor Osimhen is still the superstar option, but Chelsea\u2019s interest had been rekindled, and any deal would likely be financially complicated.<\/p>\n Chelsea should make Vlahovic their main striker target if the financial package is sensible.<\/p>\n On a free transfer, he represents a rare market opportunity for a club that has spent heavily in recent years and now needs smarter, more controlled recruitment.<\/p>\n He may not be the perfect striker, but he has experience at the top level, a strong physical profile, and the kind of penalty-box presence Chelsea have often lacked.<\/p>\n That said, Chelsea cannot afford to treat this as another name-driven signing. Vlahovic would still demand big wages, and the club must be sure he fits the style of Xabi Alonso.<\/p>\n If Chelsea sign him simply because he is available for free, it could become another expensive mistake.<\/p>\n But if they believe he can lead the line, link play better, and finish chances regularly, then this could be one of the smartest moves of the summer.<\/p>\n Xabi Alonso ready to rectify Maresca mistake with \u00a360m Chelsea decision<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Chelsea\u2019s summer planning appears to be centred around one major question: what do they really…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15295,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15294","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chelsea"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15294","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15294"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15294\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/15295"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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Liam Delap only joined the club from Ipswich Town in 2025, signing a contract until 2031 after scoring 12 Premier League goals in the 2024\/25 campaign, but the Blues are already being linked with several different striker profiles as they look to sharpen their forward line.<\/p>\nChelsea have other options on their radar<\/h2>\n
Vlahovic would be the ideal striker for the Blues<\/h2>\n