The wheels have fallen off Chelsea’s ascent under Enzo Maresca over the past six weeks and their issues have only been exacerbated by Nicolas Jackson’s recent diagnosis.
Chelsea’s first-choice striker will be missing until after the March international break after sustaining a devastating hamstring injury in early February. With 19-year-old Marc Guiu also sidelined for the foreseeable future, the Blues find themselves light in the centre-forward department.
Maresca and his players are still chasing Champions League qualification despite their recent on-field difficulties and are firm favourites to be crowned Conference League champions come the end of the season. However, Jackson’s setback could derail things if a solution cannot be uncovered.
Here is how Chelsea could fix their centre-forward injury crisis…
Chelsea do have one orthodox – loosely speaking – senior striker available, with Christopher Nkunku most likely to fill the immediate void left by fitness issues. The £52m man has struggled to establish himself at Stamford Bridge following consistent injury setbacks but now has the perfect opportunity to stake his claim.
Nkunku has been largely confined to the cup competitions but has impressed against lesser opposition. Featuring in either the number nine role or attacking midfield, he has produced 13 goals and four assists in all competitions this term.
However, just three Premier League starts have come his way under Maresca, with Jackson’s impressive early season form limiting him to substitute appearances. That should change in the coming weeks, with Chelsea playing five league matches between now and the end of March.
Nkunku is lacking the confidence and conviction required to immediately fill Jackson’s shoes and Chelsea will need to amend their tactical approach to bring the best out of the former RB Leipzig star. The 27-year-old will not offer the same speed or directness but does have great technical ability, adopting clever positions across the forward line.
Nkunku’s primary role would likely be as a false nine, dropping into deep areas to link-up play and allowing space in behind for Chelsea’s quick wingers to exploit. However, should the France international prove incapable of offering results, the talismanic Cole Palmer could be utilised in a similar function.
Palmer already has impressive positional understanding, exhibited by his ability to feature in a wide role on the right-hand side or as an archetypal number ten. The Englishman’s ingenuity and intuitiveness make him such an outstanding threat.
Whether Palmer would thrive in a more advanced role is unclear but the 22-year-old seldom fails to deliver for Chelsea, no matter the task assigned. He’s an adept goalscorer and provider – two key attributes required to prosper as a false nine – and certainly has the capacity to provide a short-term solution.
Chelsea’s business model has been to almost exclusively sign the world’s most promising wonderkids during recent transfer windows. While most have been farmed out on loan, the highly-rated Deivid Washington remains.
Currently away at the Under-20 South American Championship with Brazil, the competition concludes on 16 February and Washington will return to west London shortly afterwards. The former Santos prodigy, who could be returning to the Brazilian club on loan in the near future, has made three Chelsea appearances previously and has netted twice while representing his country in Venezuela over the past month.
While not the most convincing option, he could provide emergency cover and share minutes with Chelsea’s senior players – as could 17-year-old prospect Shim Mheuka. The teenager, who has made the Conference League matchday squad four times this term and earned his senior debut against Astana, has been prolific at Under-18 level and could be handed the occasional opportunity if push comes to shove.
Should Maresca find all the aforementioned solutions unviable, he could convert one of the club’s speedy and tricky wingers into an emergency centre-forward. With Mykhailo Mudryk suspended and Joao Felix on loan at AC Milan – another who could have been handy as a striker – Chelsea are left with just Pedro Neto, Noni Madueke and Jadon Sancho in wide areas.
All three have featured sporadically as a number nine at their previous clubs, with Madueke posting four goals and as many assists during a 12-game spell as a centre-forward with PSV Eindhoven in 2020/21. Neto was also occasionally spotted in a central position with Wolverhampton Wanderers, although he was less successful in the role.
Sancho made three appearances as a striker with Borussia Dortmund – scoring and assisting once – and led the line twice at Manchester United. He even scored once against Chelsea in the position during a 1-1 draw in 2021.
