Chelsea plan to sign “new Gyokeres”

Chelsea they started the season strongly under the new manager, Enzo Marescawhich put them back in the top four in the Premier League with impeccable UEFA Conference League campaign so far with six wins out of six in the groups.

They are blue on average 58.3% of the property per game (2nd highest in the division), taking 15.8 shots per game (4th most) and scored 39 goals in 20 games (joint third best).

While the goals rolled in early in the season, Maresca’s side fell slightly in this department over the festive period, relying heavily on Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson for their goals, leading to a dry spell when they were stifled.

This, coupled with their efforts to break the low block, could see Chelsea’s directors make a move in the January transfer window, looking to bring another natural striker to the club to provide competition and support for Jackson.

Chelsea look at ‘new Gyokeres’

According to reporter Graeme Bailey reportsChelsea are among the teams that plan to transfer Sporting striker Conrad Harder. Arsenal are also said to be interested in the Danish striker, who would reportedly cost around £42m.

The 19-year-old was called “new Gyokeres” Rising Star analysts at X (formerly Twitter), doc another analyst in Ben Mattinson he also compared the two players in terms of their build, running power, physicality and batting quality.

It’s harder he made 22 appearances for the Portuguese team this seasonscoring seven goals and three assists.

How much harder compared to Nicolas Jackson

Jackson has he has made 20 appearances for the Blues so far in the 2024/25 seasonscoring nine goals, three assists and a total of 1485 minutes played, becoming an important figure for the Maresco team. His quality on and off the ball is important to the system, filling a multitude of roles.

So how does he compare to the Sporting man? Well, he certainly looks like a more rounded forward profile.

Both Harder and Jackson are providing good results, also helping their team progress in the game. One strength both players have in common is their ability to carry the ball for their team, run channels and therefore have the ability to make something out of nothing, especially in transition.

One area where Harder excels compared to Jackson is in the air duels won, winning 2.17 per 90 compared to just 0.56. Despite being just over 6ft similar to Jackson, who is 6ft 1, the Blues target appears to provide more threat and aerial power than the Senegalese international, using his compact body type to initiate contact and win duels against defenders.

Harder is similar to Jackson in the sense that he can provide a full set of tools, dropping deep to link up play, get forward and help his side build, but also attack the box and provide results for the team.

Maresca would probably welcome this type of player, bringing in another forward to challenge and potentially even Jackson, while also offering an additional aerial threat.