Wednesday 18 January 2017 09:56, UK
Diego Costa’s Chelsea future has been thrown into doubt in recent days, but who could Antonio Conte sign to replace the temperamental striker?
Sky sources understand the Spaniard, who has been training alone with a back injury, had been the subject of a £30m-a-year offer from Chinese club Tianjin Quanjian and had a training-ground row with his manager last week.
Conte opted to use Eden Hazard as a false nine against Leicester in Costa’s absence, suggesting Michy Batshuayi may not yet be seen as the answer at Stamford Bridge. So who else could come in and fill his boots?
According to the Football Whispers index, a move to China is currently rated as a likelihood of 3.6 out of 5, so how would Chelsea provision against Costa’s potential departure, either this month or next summer?
Football Whispers have drawn up a list of possible targets…
Estimated Value: £15m
Estimated Wages: £60,000-per-week
Contract Expiry: 2018
Having worked with the World Cup winner at Juventus, Conte is believed to be keen to sign Llorente on loan from Swansea City during the current transfer window.
The Football Whispers Index currently rates the potential move at 2.2 out of 5, however, down from a peak of 4.6 a week ago.
Talk of a Stamford Bridge switch for the 31-year-old began weeks before Costa’s fall-out with his manager. Initially targeted as an alternative to Batshuayi in the role of understudy to Costa, Llorente is unlikely to be viewed as a long-term replacement.
With six goals to his name so far this term, the former Athletic Bilbao forward has been less prolific than other names on this list, but he has also been playing in a much weaker side.
Standing at 6ft 4ins, Llorente is an intimidating presence in the penalty areas, winning 56.8 percent of his aerial duels and 0.6 tackles per game.
He would, however, arguably represent a downgrade in overall technical quality, as evidenced by his pass completion rate of just 69.3 percent.
Estimated Value: £28.5m
Estimated Wages: £60,000-per-week
Contract Expiry: 2021
The 23-year-old Inter Milan striker is once again doing the business in Serie A. With 15 goals and seven assists in 20 matches, he is involved in a goal every 81 minutes.
He has scored 53 times over the past two-and-a-half seasons and continues to deliver, even though his club appears to be permanently in transition.
Statistically he is not too dissimilar to Costa. He averages 3.6 shots per match (Costa has 3.1), wins 1.7 aerial duels (to Costa’s 1.1), and completes 73 per cent of his passes (to Costa’s 74.7 per cent).
Inter Milan’s new manager, Stefano Pioli, is said to want funds to bring in his own players and may cash in on the striker, who has a turbulent relationship with a section of the club’s fans. In October he was jeered after missing a penalty due to comments he made in his autobiography.
Estimated Value: £50m
Current Wages: £90,000-per-week
Contract Expiry: 2019
The former Chelsea striker was linked with a return to Stamford Bridge last summer, but Ronald Koeman has indicated Everton are now negotiating a new deal with the Belgian.
Yet Chelsea can not only match the wages being offered to the 23-year-old, but they can better them and are likely to be able to offer Champions League football again next season.
Lukaku has 12 goals and four assists so far this season under and he opened the scoring in Sunday’s 4-0 victory over Manchester City. His stock is high and demand for him may soon well be too.
Stats-wise he is in good company. He attempts 2.7 shots per match and wins 3.8 aerial duels, but completes just 63.1 per cent of the 26.1 passes he attempts.
Estimated Value: £60m
Estimated Wages: £80,000-per-week
Contract Expiry: 2021
Alvaro Morata is another striker who was linked with Chelsea in the summer. The Spanish striker re-joined Real Madrid in the summer after the La Liga giants opted to make use of the clause in his Juventus deal which enabled them to re-sign him two years into his stay in Turin.
Since his return he has started just six games in La Liga, but despite the lack of game time the Spain international has scored five goals and has two assists in just 627 minutes.
It’s hard to read into his statistics due to the small sample size, but this season he averages 2.3 shots, wins 0.9 aerial duels and completes 75.6 per cent of the 12.3 passes he attempts.
The 24-year-old, who at 6ft 2in is more than capable of leading the line, is perhaps too good to be sitting on the bench.
Estimated Value: £31.5m
Estimated Wages: £100,000-per-week
Contract Expiry: 2020
When Jose Mourinho was manager, Chelsea were linked with a move for then Aston Villa forward Benteke. He’s since moved twice, to Liverpool and then to Crystal Palace, but with Conte using strikers with a similar profile to Mourinho’s, could Benteke be a wildcard shout?
Recent reports have suggested Sam Allardyce wants to sell the striker and use the money to improve Palace’s squad to steer clear of a potential relegation fight and Chelsea could take advantage of the situation.
He’s not as fluid as Costa with his movement but he does score goals and he does occupy defenders. The Belgian has eight goals and one assist for Palace in the Premier League.
He averaged just 2.5 shots per game but is winning an astonishing 9.3 aerial duels in each match. His pass completion rate is on the low side at 62.7 per cent, but it’s worth noting a lot of those passes will be headed attempts.
Estimated Value: £30m
Estimated Wages: £30,000-per-week
Contract Expiry: 2021
Conte’s search for a replacement may see him return to Turin.
Torino’s Andrea Belotti has been in sensational form this season and it has not gone unnoticed. The 23-year-old has scored 13 goals and has three assists in 16 starts and it’s this form which has led to him being linked to Arsenal and Liverpool over recent weeks.
Belotti, a physical, old-fashioned centre forward, could be truly special under Conte and shares plenty of similarities with Costa.
The striker is averaging 3.3 shots per match and comes out on top of 1.9 of aerial duels per match, which for a man measuring in at a touch under 6ft, is impressive. He also has a 78 per cent pass success rate from the 20.6 passes he attempts per game.
It would take a huge offer into tempting his club to sell, with reports earlier in the month suggesting Arsenal saw a £48m bid turned down.
