Chelsea

Chelsea

Premier League • England

Chelsea strike ‘full agreement’ to sign Liverpool target with third Prem side seeing Haaland-style deal hijacked

Molde striker David Datro Fofana

A cruel injury blow has prompted Chelsea to strike a ‘full agreement’ to sign a Liverpool-linked striker who was confirmed to be in talks with a third Premier League side last month, per a trusted source.

The Blues’ struggles in front of goal had been there for all to see this season. Chelsea laboured in the final third under both Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter, with the end result being Chelsea are the lowest scorers (17 goals) of any side currently in the top half.

The respective struggles of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Kai Havertz prompted Potter to increase Armando Broja’s gametime prior to the World Cup.

However, the Albanian was dealt a cruel injury blow during a friendly with Aston Villa on Sunday.

Broja ruptured his ACL and the injury requires surgery. The 21-year-old is out for the remainder of the season and is already in a race against time to be fit for the next campaign.

An obvious response at Stamford Bridge would’ve been to bring forward their plans to sign RB Leipzig’s Christopher Nkunku from June to January. However, Fabrizio Romano recently stated Chelsea will not be signing the Frenchman six months early.

Instead, strikers such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Dusan Vlahovic and Joao Felix have been linked. But per Romano, Chelsea have gone in a different direction and struck a ‘full agreement’ to sign a less experienced frontman.

Chelsea move for Molde hitman

The transfer guru tweeted Chelsea are ‘on the verge’ of signing Molde striker David Datro Fofana. A ‘full agreement’ has been struck with the Norwegian side to the tune of €10m (approx. £8.6m).

Personal terms are currently being thrashed out, though that’s not expected to be an issue. Fofana, 19, is an Ivory Coast international and has taken great strides forward this season.

He’s plundered 21 goals and provided seven assists for Molde across four different competitions in 2022. His league tally stands at 15 goals and five assists in 24 outings.

His entire league total for all of the previous campaign stood at zero goals and one assist. Clearly, he’s a player on a steep upwards trajectory and is developing at a rapid rate.

Brighton held talks with Liverpool-linked Datro Fofana

Ivorian publication Fraternite Matin reported Liverpool were eyeing up Fofana in early November. Romano later stated Brighton were in the mix too and had actually opened talks with Molde.

However, it’s Chelsea who’ve trumped both clubs and are on the cusp of bringing the exciting young striker to England.

Given he plies his trade for Molde, the Erling Haaland comparison is an obvious one.

Haaland played for Molde between 2017-18 and somewhat surprisingly, operated at less than a goal every other game while there.

However, the Norwegian club proved a fantastic place for Haaland to develop and upon moving to RB Salzburg and later Dortmund and Man City, quickly became one of the most feared forwards in the game.

Chelsea will hope to strike gold as Salzburg did with Haaland back in 2018. If he winds up anywhere near the striker Haaland has become, £8.6m will prove one of the bargains of the century.

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