Chelsea aren’t capable of mounting a serious title challenge until they sign a ‘natural finisher’, according to former Liverpool midfielder Jamie Redknapp. The Blues drew 1-1 at Manchester United on Thursday evening with attacking duo Kai Havertz and Timo Werner squandering good chances to seal a rare win at Old Trafford.
Last summer’s acquisition of Romelu Lukaku was seen as the kind of statement signing that would allow the club to compete with perennial title challengers Manchester City and Liverpool. The Belgian international scored 30 goals in 44 appearances last term to help Inter Milan win their first Serie A title since 2010.
However, the 28-year-old has thus far failed to live up to his £97.5million pound price tag with Blues boss Thomas Tuchel opting to start Havertz up front instead. Lukaku has only scored five Premier League goals this season and has been linked with a move away from the club with Paris Saint-Germain rumoured to be interested.
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Chelsea have a history of buying strikers that ultimately fail to justify their fees or live up to their reputations including the likes of Alvaro Morata, Fernando Torres and the aforementioned Werner. And Redknapp believes until the west London outfit finally sign a striker that can consistently score goals they will continue to lag behind Man City and Liverpool.
“They felt Romelu Lukaku was going to be the missing piece to the jigsaw, the man who would get them 20, 25 goals to elevate them to the title race and it hasn’t worked out,” he said on Sky Sports.
“[Timo] Werner’s not a natural finisher. Havertz, I love his movement. But they haven’t got that goalscorer like a [Didier] Drogba or [Diego] Costa who’s going to get you the 20 or 25 goals that you are going to need to win the title and that’s really where they have come up short.”
