Chelsea join Manchester United in chase for Lyon striker Moussa Dembélé — report

Chelsea might be allowed to sign new players as early as January, so transfer rumours are back on the menu. As with most meals, we have to start with an appetizer, so here’s the Daily Mail to claim that one of the first options could be French striker Moussa Dembélé.

You might remember Dembélé from a couple years ago, when he was a young sensation at Celtic, after being a teenage sensation at Fulham. Chelsea were linked very strongly throughout the first half of 2017, but would end up going with Alvaro Morata later that summer instead. Dembélé was then briefly linked the next summer as well, before moving to Lyon after 51 goals in 94 matches for Celtic. He’s continued his good form in his home country, scoring 20 goals in 46 games across all competitions in his debut year, and getting 8 goals in 11 league matches thus far this season.

Manchester United have been actively tracking the now 23-year-old striker as they look to replace former Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku — Antonio Conte finally getting his man this summer, who is already matching goalscoring records at Inter Milan set by the Brazilian legend Ronaldo.

United are apparently hoping to get Dembélé this winter, while Lyon prefer to hold him until next summer. And that might bode well for us, should we choose to actually pursue him. While Chelsea might lose one of Michy Batshuayi or Olivier Giroud in January due to playing time concerns ahead of Euro 2020, if we are to spend big on another striker, it’s much more like that we’d do so in the summer.

Given the success Chelsea’s homegrown players are having, it might be tempting to keep ignoring the transfer market — this time by choice, rather than force — but if we invest wisely, we can create an even better team. Whether spending big on a striker, and Dembélé certainly won’t be cheap even by current market standards, is the wise move is debatable however.