The priority at Chelsea this summer is extremely clear: sign a new centre forward.
Nicolas Jackson impressed last season, scoring 14 Premier League goals, but Todd Boehly still wants to bolster the position for new boss Enzo Maresca.
Benjamin Sesko has been the main target recently, but it’s been reported that he has turned down potential moves to sign a new contract at RB Leipzig.
So, is there an alternative to Sesko? It looks like it.
Chelsea’s search for a new centre forward
As per reports coming out of Colombia, Chelsea are closing in on a deal to sign Aston Villa forward Jhon Duran.
The Villans striker looks set to move to Stamford Bridge this summer, according to the report, as the two clubs have reached an agreement.
It’s mentioned that a fee in the region of £42m has been submitted, which is an offer Unai Emery’s side will likely take.
All that remains is for Duran to sign the paperwork, with negotiations between Chelsea and the player already underway.
How Jhon Duran would fit in at Chelsea
Despite playing in the Premier League for Villa, Duran isn’t a name that many of the Chelsea faithful will have heard previously.
Duran is a Colombian attacker with plenty of promise, and over the 23/24 campaign, he featured 23 times in the Premier League.
However, only three of those were from the off, and he played an average of 22 minutes per game, serving as a rotation option for the unbelievable Ollie Watkins.
Nonetheless, the 20-year-old still managed to score five goals in the league, with a late, quick-fire brace against Liverpool being his standout moment at Villa Park so far.
That said, according to FBref, Duran is classified as a 'similar player' to Sesko, based on their statistics from last season.
Firstly, it’s clear that both young strikers are excellent finishers, who are not only in the right position to have attempts at goal, but they also overperform their xG, as can be seen below.
Goals
0.82
0.94
xG
0.45
0.38
Shots
2.76
3.77
Touches
31.1
35.7
Passes completed
12.6
15.7
Shot-creating actions
2.06
2.26
This means that if given half a chance in front of goal, they’ll likely take it, which can’t be said for Jackson, who underperformed his xG by 4.64 in the league last season.
Furthermore, they aren’t exactly the type of player that will always look to be involved in build-up play, often looking to operate on the shoulder of the defender, as shown by their touches, passes completed, and shot-creating actions.
On top of the data, both players are extremely athletic and physical, possessing great speed and strength, which certainly makes them difficult to deal with.
In order for Chelsea to get to the next level, a centre forward that can reliably produce goals will be vital, and you can just imagine how deadly they’d be with Cole Palmer creating for a clinical finisher like Duran, a player described as "phenomenal" by scout Jacek Kulig.
That said, spending £42m on an inexperienced striker is clearly a risky move, but his potential is immense, and therefore, signing someone so similar to Sesko could prove to be fantastic business.
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