Chelsea: Thomas Tuchel requires firepower as his strikers fail to make grade

Chelsea
(Image credit: PA Images)

There was a symbolic absence from Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea teamsheet on Sunday. There was no No. 9 and if the immediate reaction revolved around Tammy Abraham, the wearer of the shirt who was omitted from the matchday 18 for the stalemate with Manchester United, it highlighted a broader issue.

Nine games into Tuchel’s reign, there is no No. 9 who has ticked all his boxes. The early indications are that Tuchel’s main target in the summer could be a striker, and not merely because Chelsea are credited with an interest in Erling Haaland; sadly for them, so is everyone else who has spotted his goalscoring record and has a substantial budget.

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Richard Jolly

Richard Jolly also writes for the National, the Guardian, the Observer, the Straits Times, the Independent, Sporting Life, Football 365 and the Blizzard. He has written for the FourFourTwo website since 2018 and for the magazine in the 1990s and the 2020s, but not in between. He has covered 1500+ games and remembers a disturbing number of the 0-0 draws.