‘Next step’: How many players Chelsea are now ready to sell just to sign a new striker this summer – Romano

It seems like Chelsea are still quite dissatisfied with the strikers they have at their disposal.

Nicolas Jackson’s displays have left Chelsea discontent despite the Senegalese international showing over time that not many centre-forwards in the Premier League can hold up the ball and link play like he does.

But even if Jackson had convinced Chelsea that he was fit to lead the line for them, Enzo Maresca has found it a challenge to find an alternative to the former Villareal striker in his injury-enforced absence — having to play Pedro Neto as a makeshift centre-forward.

Marc Guiu is yet to have convinced Maresca to trust him in the Premier League, with most of his minutes reserved for the Europa Conference League while Christopher Nkunku is perhaps at his best as a number 10.

With that being the case, it’s fair to see why Chelsea would like to sign a new striker in the summer.

Chelsea will try selling nine players to sign a new striker

Chelsea are huge fans of Dario Essugo, who they have agreed a deal to sign alongside Geovany Quenda. As a result, the Blues will have to sell players to finance a move for a big-name marksman.

Fabrizio Romano believes Chelsea will try to offload seven to eight players to sign a striker, which they regard as one of their priority positions.

Romano said on his official YouTube channel: “Something important to explain is that Chelsea will now work hard on sales in order to obviously have everything in place for the Financial Fair Play rules and also for sustainability, something really important for Chelsea.”

“So, remember how many players they have on loan, Kepa [Arrizabalaga] and many others so Chelsea will try to sell, according to my information, seven to eight players as soon as possible to make some money, to get new funds and then reinvest in a striker. The striker position will be crucial, striker and winger will be two really important positions for Chelsea.

“But especially the striker, there is the focus and Chelsea will invest in a new striker in the summer. They signed [Geovany] Quenda for the future, they signed Essugo for the present but the striker will be crucial and selling players will be the next step.”

Strikers Chelsea could sign in the summer

The West Londoners have been linked with a whole host of strikers ahead of the summer transfer window.

One of them is Liam Delap, who Chelsea could bid for in a proposal worth £50 million. Furthermore, Chelsea are scouting Samu Aghehowa as their scouts were in action to watch the Spaniard in FC Porto’s 1-1 draw against Sporting CP earlier this season.

Benjamin Sesko is a Chelsea target as well but it seems like they will have to compete with Arsenal for his signature.

Furthermore, Chelsea had their sights set on Conrad Harder from VfL Wolfsburg as a potential signing.

Chelsea will have to carefully decide which out of the four name suits them best as such an addition could potentially make or break their season during the 2025/2026 campaign.