Thomas Tuchel wants to build his attack around Romelu Lukaku and Kai Havertz, despite their troubled starts at Chelsea.
The strike pair, who cost a combined £168.5million, have only shown flashes of the quality that convinced Roman Abramovich to make them his two most expensive outfield signings to date.
But Tuchel remains determined to establish a partnership between them, with the Club World Cup offering encouragement that they can become a lethal combination.
Lukaku scored in both the semi-final and final in Abu Dhabi, while Havertz’s extra-time penalty secured a 2-1 win against Palmeiras to see Chelsea crowned champions.
Tuchel now plans to develop the relationship as he bids to get Chelsea’s domestic campaign back on track, as well as plotting a renewed Premier League title challenge next season.
The Chelsea manager is under a certain amount of pressure to make Lukaku and Havertz work, given the enormous outlay on them over the past two summers.
Lukaku – a club record £97.5m signing – was expected to be the final piece of the puzzle in terms of a title challenge, but he has shown little sign of emulating the form that saw Inter Milan crowned Italian champions last season.
Havertz has already secured his place in Chelsea folklore with the winning goals in the Champions League and Club World Cup finals, but he has struggled for consistency.
There is an acceptance that both players have suffered due to injury and Covid in their time at Stamford Bridge – but much more was expected, with Havertz initially seen as a potential successor to Eden Hazard as the talisman of the team. Tuchel now wants to finally find some consistency in his selection in attack.
The duo have only started four league games together, winning three and drawing the other at Liverpool when down to 10 men in August. In total, they have started eight games together, losing only once.
