Chelsea are set to move for Sporting Lisbon’s £67 million Victor Gyokeres’ stand-in, Conrad Harder.
Conrad Harder soon in Chelsea colors ?
Chelsea are interested in a move for Viktor Gyokeres’ proxy at Sporting Lisbon, Conrad Harder, as per reports.
The Blues are now already focusing on the summer transfer window. They’re exploring their options for the summer additions.
They had an amazing start to the campaign sitting at the top of the Premier League table for quite a time. At one point they were considered as the favourites to lift the league title. But they have fallen downwards into climbing up the table. They have two wins in their last two games.
In spite of their 2-1 win over West Ham Utd, Enzo Maresca’s side are still being questioned for their attacking shortages. They are currently lacking the same firepower that the had in the start of this season.
Nicolas Jackson has failed to find the back of the net since December. While Noni Madueke, Pedro Neto and Jadon Sancho have just scored three goals combined since the new year began.
The Blues chose against signing any attacking options in January transfer window. With that, they let Joao Felix depart to AC Milan on loan from the Stamford Bridge.
However, Chelsea will be expected to look for options in the transfer market in the summer. They’ll be looking to strengthen their attacking unit for the next season.
As per talkSPORT, the west London side are interested in Sporting Lisbon’s striker Harder. Their main priority will be to look for centre-forward options. They’d like to bring in a forward to compete with Nicolas Jackson.
Chelsea monitoring Conrad Harder in Portugal
The club has been tracking Harder’s developments at Sporting Lisbon. Their scouts are already traveling to Portugal to watch the attacker.
As Viktor Gyokeres is making comeback from injury, Conrad has been having an impact.
The Danish footballer has started the last four games for his club. He has been given limited amount of game time. With Gyokeres in the team, the 19-year-old has seen very less playing time. Although, he has still managed to score 11 goals in all competitions so far this season.
While the Sweden international is expected to get more attention from teams this summer, Harder will also have his share of attraction. The Denmark U-21 has a release clause of €80 million (£67 million) in his contract. He is yet to get capped for senior international team for Denmark. He has played two times for his country’s Under 21 team.
The young forward joined Sporting CP from Danish side Nordsjaelland last summer. He has also been linked with a move to Manchester United. He could be joining his former boss Ruben Amorim at the Old Trafford.
Chelsea Press Conference: Enzo Maresca on poor form and season analysis so far
The head coach talked and shared his thoughts on various topics in the pre-match press conference ahead of their game against Brighton.
Maresca on comparison between Nkunku and Jackson, said: “They are different in the ball and off the ball. Sometimes we complain about players but then why they don’t play, you realise how important they are.
“He (Nicolas Jackson) didn’t play against Brighton and then everyone was thinking it is difficult to play without a nine. We know exactly how good Nico is on and off the ball. Christo (Christopher Nkunku) is completely different on and off the ball.”
Maresca on their target this season, said: “I didn’t say our target was top four. The club never said that. The target was in two years to play in the Champions League, not in one year.
“We will see how we finish (if it’s a failure if they finish outside the top four). Since day one, I’ve always said the same.”
Author’s Opinion
Chelsea, with ongoing injury crisis, will likely head into the summer transfer window to look for reinforcements. Jackson and Guiu being out with injury, they are left without any proper number 9 for this campaign.
Sporting CP’s Conrad Harder is young and talented. He could be seen as a long-term option for Enzo Maresca’s system. It will be exciting to see how their squad makes changes for the remaining part of the season.
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