BREAKING: #Chelsea Failed To Sign In-Form Taiwo Awoniyi Before Transfer Deadline—–Chelsea attempted to equip Mauricio Pochettino with a new striker before the transfer deadline but ultimately failed in their attempt to provide competition for Nicolas Jackson.
The Blues spent heavily again this summer, breaking the British transfer record to sign Moises Caicedo from Brighton and overall invested well over £400million on new playing talent.
An ambitious recruitment drive has yielded mediocre results so far, however, with the Blues having collected just four points from their opening four fixtures, culminating in last weekend’s shock 1-0 reversal against Nottingham Forest at Stamford Bridge.
Taiwo Awoniyi ran the Blues’ defence, and Thiago Silva in particular, ragged that afternoon and provided the assist for Anthony Elanga’s winning goal.
According to The Athletic, Chelsea had contacted Forest 48 hours earlier in an attempt to broker a deal for the Nigeria international who has started the season in sensational form, following on from his exploits at the end of last term when his goals helped Steve Cooper’s side avoid relegation.
Forest instantly rejected Chelsea’s advances and Pochettino has been left to soldier on with just Jackson and Armando Broja, who has only just returned to full fitness following a long-term knee injury, as his only recognised strikers.
Christopher Nkunku impressed in pre-season following his arrival from RB Leipzig, but the France international is yet to make his competitive debut and is unlikely to do so until January following a knee injury.
Jackson has impressed so far with his work rate and running power, but has scored just once in his opening four games and missed a sitter late on against Forest that would have rescued a point.
‘I think in the future we will be talking differently. He needs time to adapt to the Premier League,’ said Pochettino in his post match press conference. ‘He is doing a fantastic job but scoring is not easy.
‘He is a little bit rushed in his decisions. He needs to be a little bit more calm and relaxed and for sure he is going to score goals.’
