Chelsea have three matches left to play in the Premier League before the end of the season as they attempt to secure qualification for European football.
The Blues are fighting to secure a place in either the Europa Conference League or the Europa League for the 2024/25 campaign, after they went without a continental competition to compete in this term.
Mauricio Pochettino's men took another step in the right direction on Sunday as they hammered West Ham United, pardon the pun, 5-0 at Stamford Bridge.
Despite there still being three games left for the side, with clashes against Nottingham Forest, Brighton & Hove Albion, and Bournemouth to come, Todd Boehly and his team are already hard at work to identify targets for the upcoming summer transfer window.
Chelsea are reportedly in the market to add another goalscorer to their squad to bolster their attacking options next season, and a Juventus star recently emerged as an option.
Chelsea's interest in Serie A marksman
At the end of last month, journalist Simon Phillips reported, via Chelsea News, that the London-based outfit are eyeing up a number of different strikers ahead of the next window.
Juventus centre-forward Dusan Vlahovic was named as one of the names on the club's list, with the reporter having stated that the attacker remains a target for the Blues.
However, he is not the only name on the shortlist as Roma's Tammy Abraham, previously of Chelsea, Napoli's Victor Osimhen, RB Leipzig's Benjamin Sesko, and Brentford's Ivan Toney are also under consideration.
Vlahovic is said to be lower down on the list than Osimhen, who is the dream target, and Sesko, who the club have already been in contact with through his representatives, and this does not suggest that Boehly is going to make an immediate move for him.
In April, TuttoSport, via TEAMtalk, reported that a bid of €60m (£51m) could be enough to tempt the Old Lady into doing business for their lethal striker ahead of the 2024/25 campaign.
That outlet also claimed that Chelsea's Premier League rivals Arsenal are also considering a swoop for the Serbia international, which means that there could be significant competition for his signature.
However, it remains to be seen whether or not the Blues would be willing to pay the reported £51m fee for the former Fiorentina marksman this summer.
If they do, though, Boehly could avenge the disasterclass the club had when they brought in Romelu Lukaku from the Serie A, by landing a fantastic striker from Italy, rather than the flop they got from Inter.
Chelsea's big Romelu Lukaku mistake
In the summer of 2021, Thomas Tuchel swooped to sign the Belgium international from Inter for a mouth-watering club-record fee of £97.5m.
Sky Sports reported that he became the team's highest-paid player on £200k-per-week after tax and that the club had been interested in signing Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund before they made the move for Lukaku.
Haaland has gone on to score 88 goals in 94 matches for Manchester City in all competitions, including 36 goals in 35 Premier League games during the 2022/23 campaign, since his switch to England a year later in 2022.
Lukaku returned to Chelsea for a second stint off the back of scoring 24 goals in 36 Serie A matches for Inter throughout the 2020/21 campaign, which convinced the club to splash almost £100m on him.
Appearances
26
Starts
16
Goals
8
Minutes per goal
199
Assists
0
Duel success rate
45%
However, as you can see in the table above, that form did not translate over to the Premier League as he struggled to replicate his goalscoring prowess from Italy in England.
That came as somewhat of a surprise for a player who has scored 121 goals in 278 matches in the English top-flight during his career but issues off the pitch may have contributed to his struggles.
Lukaku revealed his frustration with Tuchel changing the system and said that a return to Inter was something that he hoped to do in the future.
Chelsea opted to send him out on loan to Inter for the 2022/23 campaign, scoring 14 goals in 37 matches in all competitions, and he then joined Roma on loan for the current season.
He is still contracted to the Blues through to the summer of 2026 but it remains to be seen what the future has in store for him after his loan with Roma expires.
Why Chelsea should sign Dusan Vlahovic
Lukaku, as it stands, has been a disasterclass signing for Chelsea as they spent almost £100m and £200k-per-week in wages on him to struggle for one season before being loaned out for the next two.
However, that should not put them off signing another striker from the Serie A as Vlahovic could still be a fantastic addition to Pochettino's squad.
The Serbia international does not have any pre-existing relationship with Chelsea or baggage coming into Stamford Bridge and would arrive with a clean slate, rather than Lukaku – who was at a later stage in his career and in his second stint in London.
At the age of 24, Vlahovic would arrive as a young player with the potential to grow and the right mentality as he would have something to prove in England, whereas the ex-Inter star had already proven himself in the Premier League and did not have a point to prove.
The £51m-rated ace, who was once hailed as a "goal machine" by U23 scout Antonio Mango, has scored 77 goals in 170 Serie A matches in his career to date, and has been in particularly impressive form this season.
Appearances
30
32
xG
16.11
17.14
Goals
16
13
Minutes per goal
135
195
Big chances missed
18
22
As you can see in the table above, the Juventus striker has outperformed current Blues centre-forward Nicolas Jackson at league level this term.
He has scored three more goals than the Senegal international, despite having less xG created for him, and has scored more frequently than the ex-Villarreal star.
These statistics suggest that Vlahovic has the right age profile, mentality, quality, and price tag to avenge the expensive mistake Chelsea made with Lukaku.
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The Serbian marksman could arrive for over £40m less than the Belgian powerhouse did and offer an upgrade on Pochettino's current starting striker, which is why Boehly should swoop for him.
