Chelsea remain in the market for a new striker despite having signed Nicolas Jackson in the summer, who has shown great signs of development
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While the 22-year-old has recently enjoyed an upturn in form, doubt has been cast as to whether he can lead Chelsea to silverware. Jakcson, who sees his contract at Stamford Bridge expire in 2031, has featured 14 times for the west Londoners this term, scoring as many goals (seven) as yellow cards received .
With the Senegal international beginning to show promising signs of development, the Blues will only sign a new striker in January if the right opportunity arrises, according to journalist Ben Jacobs. The report states that Pochettino has faith in both Jackson and Armando Broja – not to mention Christopher Nkunku, who's still yet to make his competitive debut since joining in the summer.
Chelsea are expecting bigs things from the trio, but Jacobs added that if a new talisman is not signed in the winter then one will be acquired in the summer. The CBS reporter has claimed that the Blues 'don’t just want any old striker', instead Pochettino wants an 'elite' forward.
As it stands, there aren't too many 'elite' strikers on the market at the moment, but one name which stands out is Victor Osimhen. The 24-year-old striker was heavily linked with an exit from Napoli in the summer transfer window but a move failed to materialise.
Chelsea were keen to sign him, but the Italian giants were determined to hold onto their star man so Pochettino turned his attention to Jackson. It's believed that the Blues viewed the Napoli talisman as somebody who could have transformed the club's misfortunes in front of goal but, without Champions League qualification, any bid to sign him proved difficult.
Osimhen has picked up from where he left off last term, continuing his rich vein of form. The Nigeria international has featured X times for the reigning Serie A champions side so far this term, finding the net X times.
As the £69.7million-rated striker continues to establish himself as one of the world's top strikers, he attracts more and more attention. At the moment, he actually faces an uncertain future at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona after Napoli posted a controversial video which appeared to mock him.
Despite reports linking Osimhen with an exit, the club have insisted that 'everyone is happy'. Following Napoli's game against Udinese earlier this season, Rudi Garcia said: "I have had a very good rapport with Victor since the moment I arrived.
"I am happy because he scored a goal and centre-forwards always want to score goals. In Bologna we were all frustrated at not winning and he was even more after missing a penalty, so that can happen. We cleared the air, it all went back to normal."
Then, after Napoli's 3-2 defeat to Real Madrid in the Champions League group stage, club president Aurelio De Laurentiis doubled down and insisted Osimhen's future is 'not up for discussion'. Speaking to Spanish publication El Chiringuito, as quoted by Goal, he said: "Victor is a player who makes a team on his own, it's not up for discussion. There is no problem with the renewal, everyone in Napoli is happy."