Chelsea have already sold their answer to Isak in Cobham’s “£60m striker”

It’s no secret that Chelsea have been looking to sign another striker alongside Nicolas Jackson since the summer, with plenty of links to some of the best forwards on the continent, notably the likes of Viktor Gyokeres and Alexander Isak.

Enzo Maresca has clearly shown he likes Jackson, often praising his contributions in games aside from just his goal tally.

However, goals have dried up for the Senegal international, despite scoring nine in 23 games so far this season, Jackson hasn’t found the net since the middle of December, now going eight games without a goal.

The likes of Christopher Nkunku and Marc Guiu have been given chances up front from the bench to replace Jackson in recent weeks.

But, it is clear the Blues are missing a different striker profile who can challenge Jackson but also offer some different attributes, especially extra box threat and aerial presence.

Why Chelsea wanted Alexander Isak

One man who is certainly in red-hot form in the Premier League this season is Newcastle striker, Isak, who has made 27 appearances so far this season, scoring 19 goals and providing five assists.

In short, he’s a marvel and is proving himself against some of the best too. The 6 foot 4 Sweden international just had one of his most important performances in England, making a mockery of William Saliba and Gabriel on his way to leading Newcastle to the EFL Cup final with a 2-0 victory against Arsenal at St James’ Park.

Isak is perhaps one of the most complete forwards in the world, offering the height and presence in the box that is desired, whilst also being good in other phases, able to drop in and help link play, and then provide the finishing touch and score the important goals.

Chelsea may have sold their own Isak

Chelsea may well have had their very own answer to Isak, but he was sold back in 2021, joining Roma for a fee of around £34m. He is now finding his feet again in Serie A with AC Milan.

That player was Tammy Abraham who made 82 appearances in the Chelsea first team once he broke in through the academy system, scoring 30 goals, providing nine assists and totalling 4,569 minutes played.

Much like Isak, Abraham is coincidentally also 6 foot 4, has the technical quality despite his height to drop and link play, and has demonstrated a high level of finishing in the past.

When comparing the underlying numbers of the two strikers this season, Abraham is actually providing even more box threat with his aerial presence, winning 2.18 aerial duels per 90.

He also ranks very closely to Isak in terms of clinical finishing with a 0.22 goals/shot ratio, just 0.01 less than Isak.

Abraham was labelled as “£60m striker” by Jürgen Klopp back in 2019 when he was playing for Chelsea, and ironically, he is the type of striker who could at least provide something different to Jackson currently, which is exactly what the Blues are crying out for.

Whilst the AC Milan striker clearly isn’t at the same level as the Swede, Abraham would clearly be a useful tool for Maresca this season at Chelsea, which begs the question. Did the Blues cash in on the English striker too soon? The answer to that question, quite possibly, is yes.