With Alavaro Morata loaned out to Atlético Madrid, Olivier Giroud publicly flirting with a return to France and Gonzalo Higuain hardly convincing up top for Chelsea, the striker situation at Stamford Bridge could be interesting next season.
On the bench against Brighton last week, the Argentine hasn’t found the back of the net in the Premier League since a 2-1 win against Fulham back in early March, and there are questions as to whether sending a large amount of cash to Juventus to make the loan permanent is the wisest move in the summer.
With their transfer plans currently on hold as they await a final decision on their potential ban, Chelsea are preparing for both scenarios.
If they are unable to register players next summer, then the current players will likely stay, but if they don’t, TuttoMercatoWeb claim Atalanta’s Duvan Zapata will be a target.
With 20 goals in 30 league appearances this season, the Colombian is one of the more in form goal scorers in Europe, and the Serie A side are expected to make his loan from Sampdoria permanent in the summer for €26m.
Once they do, they will be faced with a tough decision of either keeping him around or selling him for a hefty profit, and the belief is they’ll ask for at least €50m, which is only fair in today’s market for a striker entering his prime years.
As for Chelsea, they believe they’ll be able to ‘cancel’ or at least ‘postpone’ the ban, enabling them make a move for Zapata in the process.
We’ll know more on April 11th.
