An update has emerged on Chelsea’s pursuit of further additions to their playing squad ahead of the 2023/24 campaign…
Will Vlahovic sign for Chelsea?
According to Gazzetta dello Sport, via Sport Witness, the Blues are preparing a bid to sign Juventus centre-forward Dusan Vlahovic, as Mauricio Pochettino eyes the Serbian international to bolster his attacking options.
The report claims that the Italian side need to sell some of their current first-team players in order to finance their own moves in the market, which could open the door for the number nine to move on over the coming weeks.
It is stated that there is a belief that a bid could arrive at their door 'shortly', with Chelsea said to be ready to 'lunge' for the former Fiorentina star.
Further to this, it has been claimed that the Old Lady are set to demand a fee of at least €80m (£68m) to allow the striker to depart this summer, which comes 18 months on from his £66m move to the club.
How many goals does Dusan Vlahovic have for Juventus?
Vlahovic has scored 23 goals in 63 appearances across all competitions for his current club, including 17 goals in 42 Serie A matches.
Whilst that is a respectable return in front of goal, the 23-year-old has the quality to offer more than he has shown during his time in Turin as his form throughout the 2020/21 and 2021/22 campaigns suggests that the potential is there for him to be a phenomenal goalscorer for Chelsea.
Pochettino helping him to return to his best would also benefit new signing Christopher Nkunku, as the Frenchman would become unplayable if he has a star striker to feature alongside.
Vlahovic plundered 23 goals in 33 league starts during the 2021/22 season and that came after he managed an impressive 21 strikes in 34 starts for Fiorentina throughout the previous term.
To put that into context, no Chelsea player has scored more than 11 goals in a single Premier League campaign over the last two years, whilst Kai Havertz was their top scorer with just seven last season.
This suggests that Vlahovic has the quality to come in as Pochettino's star centre-forward with his goalscoring record in Italy far more impressive than anything a Blues player has produced in recent years.
The Serbian marksman, who was once described as "incredibly prolific" by talent scout Jacek Kulig, could be the perfect foil for Nkunku as his lethal finishing would attract attention from opposition defences and allow the French maestro to ghost in to cause his own havoc in the box.
Defenders would need to be alert to deal with the immense threat that the current Juventus ace could provide with his goalscoring quality and the ex-RB Leipzig man could take advantage of that.
During his time with the German side, Nkunku scored 29 goals and provided 13 assists in 44 appearances as a second striker, along with 21 goals and 22 assists in 49 outings as an attacking midfielder, while no Blues player assisted more than three league goals last season.
The 25-year-old racked up an outstanding 16 goals in 20 Bundesliga starts last term, which suggests that he also has the ability to be a terrific upgrade to Chelsea's forward options from the 2022/23 campaign.
Just imagine the chaos the £52m magician could cause in the final third if defenders are too busy dealing with Vlahovic's threat to mark him out of the game.
It could be a tantalising proposition for everyone at the club, with his ability to score and assist goals on a regular basis making him a potentially unplayable asset.