Chelsea are reportedly ready to open talks over £20million move for Freiburg forward Gian-Luca Waldschmidt.
With Olivier Giroud entering the final months of his contract at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea manager Frank Lampard is reportedly keen on bringing new attackers this summer.
And according to a report from the Sun, Freiburg’s Waldschmidt has now emerged on Chelsea’s shortlist.
Compared to previous strikers linked to Chelsea such as Timo Werner, Lautaro Martinez and Moussa Dembele, Waldschmidt is not exactly a household name.
Already having Tammy Abraham, one of the biggest striking prospects in the Premier League, it makes sense for Chelsea to reserve their spending on strikers.
Waldschmidt could be the ideal back-up for Tammy.
Waldschmidt’s style of play is the complete opposite of Tammy’s
While Tammy and Giroud are standing at imposing at 6ft 2in (190cm) and 6ft 3in (192cm) respectively, Waldschmidt is 5ft 1in (181cm) tall.
It is not surprising that compared to Tammy’s 45% aerial duel win rate, Waldschmidt’s 33% looks unconvincing (Whoscored).
But the contrast between the two strikers is particularly why the 23-year-old could be an ideal back-up or striking partner for Tammy.
Tammy is more of a poacher where he thrives inside the penalty box. All of his 13 goals in the Premier League was scored from inside the 18-yard box.
On the other hand, Waldschmidt enjoys playing in a deeper position. And he likes to shoot from a distance, the trait Chelsea have been lacking.
Waldschmidt has scored five goals from 15 appearances in Bundesliga this season. Two of them came from outside the penalty box.
From the 30 shots he has taken in the league this season, 12 were from outside the box.
The Euro Under-21 tournament last year was perhaps the highlights of Waldschmidt’s career so far.
Germany only finished as the runners-up as the lost to Spain in the final match, but Waldschmidt ended the tournament as top scorer with record-equalling seven goals from five games.
And again, out of those seven goals, three of them were from outside the penalty box, including his left-footed screamer against Austria which was eventually awarded the goal of the tournament.
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And another thing that would make Waldschmidt a good addition to Frank Lampard’s squad is his ability to play in a front two.
Lampard has shown a tendency to bring on another striker when losing in a game and it has not really worked with Michy Batshuayi and Tammy so far.