Chelsea reportedly chasing Senegalese striker playing in Russia

Chelsea's strikers have struggled to put the ball in the net this season, and as a result, the club are finding themselves linked to quite a few forwards now that the January transfer window is open. According to the Guardian, the Blues' latest target is Lokomotiv Moscow player Oumar Niasse. The Senegalese international moved from Turkey to Russia in 2014 and since then, he's recorded 12 goals and 8 assists in 28 league matches for Lokomotiv.

Niasse can play on either wing, but you'll see him mostly playing centrally as a lone forward in Lokomotiv Moscow's 4-2-3-1 scheme. He's got a lot of work rate for a striker which really complements his strength and his pace, which in return also suits Moskow's counter-attack tactics in the Russian Premier League and the Europa League. He comes out of the box pretty often to offer himself as a passing option to his midfielders, and also tries finishing balls from outside the box if he's given enough space. In goalscoring situations in the box, he seems to prefer placing his shots rather than just blasting them past the opposing goalkeeper.

Still, Niasse is not an accurate passer even though he doesn't try many long balls forward. He's not very technically gifted, either, losing the ball rather easily from pressure by his markers or by his dodgy first-touch. He also doesn't seem to have the best positional awareness, getting offside pretty often and he's prone to commit fouls while pressing his opponents. To add to that, despite being 1.88m (6'2'') he's definitely not a great aerial threat.

In the Guardian report, it's claimed that the 25-year-old player would move to Chelsea for £15 million. But even if Chelsea can easily afford his transfer fee, Niasse doesn't seem to be at the same level as Diego Costa, nor is as good as Loïc Rémy despite having a better goalscoring record than both of our current strikers this season. It could be much easier - and cheaper - for the club to have a go at Patrick Bamford instead.