Connect with us

News

Potter makes £100m Chelsea striker admission amid Haaland’s transfer to Man City

Published:

on

(Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Graham Potter has explained why Erling Haaland’s transfer to Manchester City proves how Chelsea can resolve their attacking problem.

Haaland has scored 32 goals in 30 games in all competitions for Man City this season so far following his summer arrival from Borussia Dortmund.

Meanwhile, Chelsea have only scored 23 goals in 22 Premier League games despite splashing out on their attack in recent windows, acquiring the likes of Raheem Sterling, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Mykhailo Mudryk and Joao Felix.

The big piece of failed business came in the summer of 2021 when Chelsea re-signed Romelu Lukaku for a club-record fee of £97.5 million. Just a year on, he was sent back to the San Siro on loan, temporarily halting his disaster of a return to the English capital.

Potter knows Chelsea need to improve in the attacking department, the area which is letting them down. Results have been affected – they haven’t won any of their last four games in all competitions (D3, L1) and have scored just one goal during that period.

They face Southampton in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon at Stamford Bridge hoping to clinch their first win in five matches which would propel them up the table. Chelsea currently sit ten points off the Champions League places, with Newcastle United occupying the final spot in the top four.

Potter spoke about Chelsea trying to fix their problems previously with the signing of Lukaku and defended their January business despite spending in excess of £300 million.

“The notion that you can just go into a store and buy a number 9 that fits into your profile of investment – not just transfer fees, but salaries as well – it is not quite that straightforward.

“I don’t know whether this was the case but from the outside, it seemed Chelsea had a problem with scoring goals and they spent close to £100 million on a number 9 who was meant to fix the problem. As far as I can see, it didn’t fix the problem.”

He added: “Manchester City had been asked to sign a centre forward for the last five years and they have probably been the best team in the Premier League in that time. The best way is to get the team to function better.”

Trending