It is set to be a very busy summer at Chelsea, even by their own standards.
On Wednesday, the Blues confirmed the signing of Liam Delap, arriving from Ipswich Town for a reported £30m fee.
The forward is poised to make his Chelsea debut in little over a week’s time, with the Blues kicking off their Club World Cup campaign against Los Angeles FC at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on 16 June, before also taking on Flamengo and Espérance Sportive de Tunis in Philadelphia in Group D.
Before the designated Club World Cup transfer window closes on Tuesday 10 June, could Enzo Maresca have another highly-rated young centre-forward at his disposal?
Chelsea chasing attacking reinforcements
Not just content with the addition of Delap in their forward ranks, it would appear Todd Boehly and Co are lining up another exciting move.
According to a report by Florian Plettenberg of Sky Sports Deutschland, Chelsea are currently “working on” a deal to sign Eintracht Frankfurt forward Hugo Ekitiké.
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He adds that die Adler will only sell if his €100m (around £84m) release clause is met, not wanting to allow another star striker to depart, after Omar Marmoush was sold to Manchester City for a reported £65m as recently as January.
Ekitiké, who is only 22 years old, joined Frankfurt from Paris Saint-Germain for around £30m in January 2024, scoring 22 times for the German outfit this season, bagging 15 Bundesliga goals, as well as four in the Europa League.
This makes the young Frenchman one of the most in-demand strikers in world football, notably described as the “next Mbappe” by journalist Graeme Bailey, so could he be on his way to Stamford Bridge?
Why Ekitiké could be the next Anelka
Few elite-level players quite enjoyed a transfer as much as Nicolas Anelka.
During his 19-year senior career, the France international played for 12 different clubs in six different countries, ranging from European heavyweights Real Madrid, Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain, six different Premier League teams, as well as both Shanghai Shenhua and then Mumbai City in Asia.
Almost inarguably, however, Anelka’s best years were spent at Chelsea, making more appearances, 184, and scoring more goals, 59, for the Blues than anyone else.
He was an integral part of their double-winning side under Carlo Ancelotti in 2009/10, scoring 15 times across all competitions, having won the Premier League golden boot the previous season, doing so in his debut campaign in West London, bagging 19 goals, one more than a certain Cristiano Ronaldo.
Thus, he will always be remembered fondly by the Stamford Bridge faithful, but could another French forward make a similar impact?
Well, Ekitiké and Anelka, in his prime, share many of the same characteristics, far beyond merely their nationality.
Alex Barker of the Athletic praises the Frankfurt forward’s “explosiveness and agility”, adding that he is able to “exploit space” in-behind a defence, allowing him to get into “dangerous positions” and score goals.
Well, as outlined by Nick Wright of Sky Sports, Anelka at his best was the “complete striker” who was “electrifyingly fast and devastatingly direct”. There are certainly comparisons to be had here.
Back to Ekitiké and Fintan O’Reilly of Total Football Analysis believes he is a ‘very efficient’ finisher, boasting ‘stellar off-the-ball movement’ which allows him to ‘consistently get high-quality shots off’, so let’s assess the data to see if they support these assertions.
Minutes
2,563
52nd
Goals
15
6th
Assists
8
10th
Expected goals
21.6
2nd
Non-penalty xG per 90
0.68
1st
Shots
114
1st
Shots on target
44
2nd
As the table outlines, despite only playing around 84% of the available minutes in the Bundesliga this season, Ekitiké ranked very highly for all the statistics included, ending up first for shots and second for shots on target, just one below Torjägerkanone winner Harry Kane.
The Frenchman actually massively underperformed his xG, but the fact he still managed to score 15 goals suggests he gets in the right positions, and has the potential to score many more.
Thus, if Chelsea are able to secure his signature, they absolutely should, because Ekitiké could come in and make an immediate impact, just as Anelka did all those years ago.
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