The £70m Chelsea transfer link that makes zero sense - and why Blues must avoid another costly mistake
Victor Boniface has been linked to Chelsea this week but is he the one to solve the goal-scoring issues?
Chelsea have been linked with a move for a Nigerian striker in January. The striker is named Victor, but it’s not Osimhen - it's Boniface.
The Nigerian forward was one of the standout players in Bayer Leverkusen's title-winning team last season, scoring 14 goals in the campaign. Boniface has started the new season strongly, with three goals and an assist in four Bundesliga games.
The Blues see him as a cheaper alternative - most likely coming in at around the £70m mark - to his Nigerian counterpart, Osimhen, who has been unwilling to lower his significant wage demands - even though Chelsea sources have said links are more from agents than the club itself.
However, while the 23-year-old Bayer Leverkusen striker is talented, he wouldn’t necessarily be an upgrade over Chelsea’s current striker, Nicolas Jackson. If Enzo Maresca cannot secure Osimhen, he should be content with the Senegalese striker, who has been somewhat underappreciated.
Stylistically, Jackson is a better fit for Maresca's system compared to Boniface. Chelsea have plenty of creative players, and what they need is a striker who runs behind defenders - something Jackson excels at, while Boniface does not. Like Osimhen, the former Villarreal striker is among the best at making runs behind the defence. It made sense when Chelsea was pursuing the Napoli star because Osimhen is essentially a more polished version of Jackson.
Boniface, on the other hand, is more of a playmaking striker than a runner. A team without many creative players needs a different striker profile than what Boniface offers. Jackson scored 14 goals in his first season in the English Premier League, playing for a highly demanding club with a disjointed team lacking confidence. These numbers were more than good; in fact, it was an improvement over the 12 goals he scored in La Liga for Villarreal the previous season.
The young striker continues to show improvement with every season, as evidenced by his 4 goals in the first 5 games of the current Premier League season.
What Chelsea should be doing is backing him, which will undoubtedly boost his confidence, instead of constantly searching for his replacement in players who aren’t significantly better. You only have to look at the example of club legend Didier Drogba, who endured a tricky first season at Stamford Bridge, to appreciate the value of keeping the faith with your first-choice striker.
Nicolas Jackson’s tireless work rate remains an asset in big games where Chelsea might see less of the ball. He does the pressing and tracking back, allowing the team's star player, Cole Palmer, to conserve energy for key attacking moments.
Besides the fact that Boniface isn’t an upgrade over Jackson, Chelsea already have a player with a similar playmaking style in Christopher Nkunku. The French forward is starting to show his quality after a difficult, injury-ridden season last year. If Chelsea aren’t signing a striker at the level of Erling Haaland, they simply should save their money until another striker of that calibre emerges.