Sarri planning to sign a winger and not a striker in January
Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri plans to prioritise the signing of a winger instead of a new striker amid reports linking AC Milan forward Gonzalo Higuain with a move to Stamford Bridge.
Lack of goals from strikers Alvaro Morata and Olivier Giroud has been one of the key talking points of Chelsea’s campaign so far, with the two strikers sharing only six goals between them in the Premier League.
The ankle injury to Giroud left Chelsea further short of options in the final third, with the out of favour Morata left as the only centre-forward in the squad.
However, Sarri has ruled out the possibility of recalling Tammy Abraham and Mitchy Batshuayi from their loan spells and has dropped a hint that he plans to sign a winger rather than a striker like Gonzalo Higuain.
When asked about the possibility of recalling Abraham from his loan spell, Sarri said, “No, because I have the option with Hazard in this position,” he said when asked about cutting short the loan deals of Abraham and Batshuayi.
“We have Morata, and Hazard can play very well in this position as we have seen in the last two, three matches, so I think that at the moment I don’t need another striker.
“Maybe another winger, because now we are in trouble with the injuries of Pedro, of [Callum] Hudson-Odoi, [Ruben] Loftus-Cheek, so I have the option [Hazard] and what an option for the striker, but at the moment I have no option for the wingers.”
Chelsea have already set the ball rolling with the €64 million signing of Christian Pulisic from Borussia Dortmund and it remains to be seen whether the Blues indulge in any further transfer activity in January.
