Premier League 2018/19: Positions the Big 6 need to strengthen in January

#3 Chelsea: Striker

Could Mauro Icardi be the goalscorer Chelsea need?

New boss Maurizio Sarri has proven to be a success at Chelsea thus far, and their big 2-0 win over Manchester City last weekend seemed to prove theories that his style had been “found out” after losses to Tottenham and Wolves to be false. Despite this though, it’s pretty clear that the Blues are lacking in a major area – and that’s in terms of goals.

Sure, they’ve scored 33 goals thus far – a return up there with the rest of the top 5 – but first choice striker Alvaro Morata still doesn’t really look like the real deal up front, and it appears clear at this stage that Sarri simply doesn’t view Olivier Giroud as anything more than a good impact substitute. And Chelsea simply can’t rely on Eden Hazard for all their goals.

How to solve this issue? The Blues could choose to bring back youngster Tammy Abraham from his loan at Aston Villa – the England international has been on fire, scoring 11 goals in 15 appearances in the Championship, but questions still abound over whether he’s ready for life at the top of the Premier League.

If Abraham is not to be trusted, then Chelsea could move for a man who Sarri would’ve come up against during his time at Napoli – Inter Milan’s Argentine striker Mauro Icardi. A deadly finisher who’s been described as an “animal in the box”, Icardi already has 8 league goals in 12 appearances and 4 Champions League goals too. He’d be a big upgrade on Morata – although it’d probably cost the Blues a lot of money to get him.