Chelsea table offer for £86m “powerhouse” who could supercharge Palmer

Much like 2022/23, the 2023/24 season has been a disaster for Chelsea, as, despite the appointment of Mauricio Pochettino and the influx of promising youngsters in the summer, the Blues currently find themselves ninth in the Premier League and facing the realistic chance of a second successive campaign without European football.

However, three league wins on the bounce have seen the Pensioners narrow the gap on the top four, and perhaps with the right signings this month, they could make a late charge for the Champions League places.

That seems to be the thinking of the club themselves, anyway, as the latest player touted for a move to Stamford Bridge has been scoring for fun on the continent and could supercharge Cole Palmer’s creative numbers – and the Blues have just made an offer.

Chelsea table bid for one of the continent’s most in-form strikers

According to reports from Portugal (via Sport Witness), Chelsea have acted on their interest in Sporting CP’s free-scoring number nine, Viktor Gyokeres, and have tabled a bid said to be in the region of €85m, which comes to about £73m.

However, Chelsea fans should not get too excited just yet as the report has also revealed that the Portuguese club have rejected the offer, reaffirming their stance that he is not for sale this month unless a club pays his massive €100m – £86m – release clause.

That said, given how close the Blues’ offer was to the release clause, there is an expectation that they will come back with a second offer in the coming days.

While this deal will cost the club an arm and a leg to complete, getting a player of his quality through the door would be worth it, and his clinical finishing could do wonders for Palmer’s creative numbers.

Viktor Gyokeres could supercharge Cole Palmer

Now, one of the biggest problems for Chelsea this season has been their striker’s inability to finish the chances they are given in front of goal. According to Understat’s expected goals model, the Blues have scored nine fewer than they should have by now, and while they sit eighth for goals scored, they are fourth for expected goals.

While this problem can be laid at the feet of several players at the club, one man has been particularly guilty of fluffing his lines: Nicolas Jackson.

The Senegalese forward may have a fairly respectable seven league goals to his name this season – granted, three of them came against a nine-man Tottenham Hotspur side – but according to his expected goals figure, he should have at least four more to his name, which is a rather shocking underperformance for the starting striker of a top six side.

In comparison, Gyokeres has 11 league goals from an expected goals figure of 7.9, meaning he is overperforming by over three goals, which, while likely unsustainable in the Premier League, is the sign of a clinical finisher – and he has scored some crackers in his career as well.

With the Swedish “powerhouse” up front, as he was described by data analyst Ben Mattinson, Chelsea’s best summer signing, Palmer can expect to see his already impressive creative numbers skyrocket.

Currently, the former Manchester City prospect has four league assists to his name from an expected assists figure of 5.4, meaning that with his current teammates, he is losing out on at least one more assist to his record.

However, were he to have Gyokeres ahead of him, not only would he likely get that extra assist, but he could get another couple, given the rate at which the former Coventry City star overperforms.

Ultimately, while it will cost the club an enormous sum of money to get over the line, if Chelsea are serious about fighting their way back up the table, they should be making a second offer for the “unplayable” Swede, as former teammate Maxime Biamou described him, as Jackson is just too profligate in front of goal.