Chris Sutton predicted the signing of Romelu Lukaku will edge Chelsea ahead of Manchester City for the Premier League crown.
Writing for the BBC, Sutton brought out his crystal ball and envisaged that Lukaku would give Thomas Tuchel’s men the advantage in the title charge.
The Belgian is days, maybe hours, away from being officially announced by the club ahead of the new campaign.
Many insisted that if Chelsea were to unsettle City’s reign, they would need a destructive element to lead their attack.
In Lukaku, they have one of the fiercest forward forces in world football.
Right now, Pep Guardiola is without a ruthless centre-forward, following the departure of Sergio Aguero to Barcelona.
Sutton says Chelsea over City
Of course, City can call upon an array of other genuine inter-stellar talents, none more so than the £100m (Sky Sports) Jack Grealish.
They are still searching for a way to sign Harry Kane, but without him, Sutton felt the pendulum is swinging in Chelsea’s direction.
“If Harry Kane goes to Manchester City, then he is the perfect fit for them and I would fancy them,” said the former Blues striker.
“If he doesn’t, I think Chelsea will nick it, because they are getting Romelu Lukaku. I don’t think City will win the title without signing a centre-forward.
“I know they won it last season largely playing without one, which was remarkable. I don’t see it happening again.
“If there was a criticism of Chelsea last time, it was that they possibly weren’t ruthless enough but with Lukaku they will have a guy in who is an absolute glutton for goals.”
Oh boy, does Lukaku like gobbling up goals.
He scored 64 times in two seasons for Inter Milan, 42 in 96 appearances for Manchester United and 87 in 166 for Everton.
Ironically, the worst scoring spell of his career came for Chelsea, where he failed to hit the net at all in 15 outings.
That will surely change this time around, thanks to his overall improvement in all aspects of his game.
Not to mention the service he is set to be provided by the creative threats scattered across Tuchel’s team.
It would be foolish to rule City out just yet, but the omens are looking favourable for Chelsea right now.