Chelsea hold talks over signing £76m “monster”

Chelsea continued to saunter through a poor vein of form, losing 3-1 to Manchester City at the Etihad on Saturday, leaving them sixth in the Premier League after 23 games played, one point off of their most recent opponent, Manchester City, who sit in fourth.

Enzo Maresca’s side took an early lead through Noni Madueke, with City debutante Abdukodir Khusanov making a costly error to gift Chelsea a 1-0 lead. However, goals from Josko Gvardiol, Erling Haaland and Phil Foden secured the Citizens all three points.

The Blues had 43% possession in the game, creating three big chances from their ten shots. However, their inability to finish their chances after going 1-0 up cost them, with City equalising before half-time, and taking the ascendancy in the second half.

Chelsea have been scouring the market for striker opportunities for a while now, looking to provide Nicolas Jackson with competition, and this poor run of form could fast-track those plans, should the opportunity aise in the final week of the January window.

Chelsea searching for Nicolas Jackson upgrade

According to reports from Caught Offside this week, Chelsea face new competition for the signing of Jhon Duran having made new contacts with Aston Villa earlier this week.

The report states that French giants PSG are now in the race and are willing to pay £59m for a player the Villans value at around £76m. A sticking point for the Blues is that the Ligue 1 side are also happy to offer players in the deal.

Duran has made 28 appearances

for the Midlands side this season, scoring 12 goals in 1,019 minutes played. The youngster has already scored 20 goals in his Aston Villa career, having only played 2,248 minutes in total, showing his clinical ability at such a young age.

How Duran compares to Nicolas Jackson

Chelsea’s main man upfront this season, Jackson, has scored nine goals and provided five assists in 23 appearances, starting the campaign in red-hot form and contributing to all phases of play. This saw the striker become a favourite of Maresca, but in recent weeks, the Senegal international has struggled to find the back of the net, now not scoring since the 15th December.

In this time frame, Chelsea have dropped from second in the Premier League to sixth, showing the magnitude of his dip in form, and further highlighting the need for competition upfront to offer the squad another option when things aren’t going well.

When comparing both striker’s metrics this season, you can see how Jackson contributes to all phases of play, helping to progress via his carrying ability, making key passes and creating shots for both himself and others.

Meanwhile, Duran is much more box-focused, winning more aerial duels, scoring more frequently, taking more shots and finishing at a higher clip (0.20 goals/shot ratio compared to 0.16).

Talent scout Jacek Kulig has stated that the young forward is a “monster in the making” and the 21-year-old has already shown with his limited minutes how he can affect games, and now, due to that, he has many elite European clubs sniffing around for his signature.

In plenty of games this season, Chelsea have taken the lead and have been given the chance to add to their lead, perhaps putting the game out of reach for their opponent, but a lack of clinical finishing has stopped them doing so, thus dropping points on plenty of occasions.

Giving Jackson some competition in this department could go a long way to solving that issue, not only giving Maresca another option but someone capable of pushing him to be better.

So far this season, he has only been competing with Christopher Nkunku upfront, who, despite having a strong scoring record, netting 13 times in 29 appearances, isn’t a natural number nine, who prefers to play behind the striker, much like Cole Palmer.

Bringing a more box-dominant number nine to the club would allow Maresca to rotate Jackson more willingly, make decisions based on the game plan and spark strong competition upfront, which brings the best out of both players.

Who Jhon Duran could improve at Chelsea

Not only could the signing of Duran help to push Jackson and add clinical finishing to the team, but it could also bring another dynamic to the side, which allows the wingers such as Pedro Neto to thrive, using their full creative toolkit to maximum effect.

Since joining from Wolves in the summer for a fee of around £54m, Neto has made 26 appearances, scoring three goals, providing five assists and totalling 1,440 minutes. However, the 24-year-old has often put excellent crosses into the box, worthy of a final touch to award the assist, but lacking the box threat for it to materialise.

By adding Duran, who wins over three aerial duels per 90, it would bring the confidence for the wingers to put more crosses into the box, knowing they have a centre-forward primed to attack the ball in those moments, either providing the final touch themselves or taking defenders away and opening spaces for others, such as the midfielders, to arrive.

Jadon Sancho is another who would profit from this, and by unlocking these creative wingers to their full potential, it could also bring more goals for them, as teams look to cut off their crosses, showing them inside and giving them the best shooting opportunities possible.