250 million pounds on defenders with Havertz in advance! Chelsea transfer period is a mess

Chelsea could end this transfer window after spending £250m on defenders alone as they struggle with a temporary striker up front at Kai Havertz.

Having already spent more than £90m on Marc Cucurella and Kalidou Koulibaly, the Blues are preparing to close £80m from Leicester’s Wesley Fofana, and are said to be in advanced talks with RB Leipzig to sign Josko Gvardiol next summer for £77m.

Although an investment in a defensive line may be necessary due to the departures of Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen, the focus on defense has left Chelsea’s squad woefully unbalanced.

Thomas Tuchel’s side put on another toothless display as they lost 2-1 to Southampton and scored just three goals in their last three games, all since the summer signing of Raheem Sterling.

While Sterling has adapted well to his forward role since joining from Manchester City, Havertz has kind of looked into his five starts this season.

The German has scored only once in his last 13 games and had the fewest touches of any of Chelsea’s starting players against Southampton.

Tuchel had moderate success bringing in Havertz as a liar nine during Romelu Lukaku’s turbulent months last season, but the former Leverkusen player is clearly uncomfortable in the role.

Failing to get a natural scorer before deadline day could lead to ridicule, not just of the transfer window, but the entire season.

Chelsea paid the price for not paying the price

Chelsea opted to allow only their two other strikers in Lukaku and Timo Werner to leave the club without a suitable replacement, and the lack of a top scorer has already cost the team multiple points.

Elite-level strikers were something special for the teams in this window, but new owner Todd Boehle has shown he’s willing to pay the running price for the right player.

The club were willing to pay a record fee for defenders, but were negotiating with Barcelona a spread of around £5m for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who they identified as a key attacking target.

The Blues may be understandably reluctant to spend big on another striker after the disastrous signing of Lukaku for nearly £100m last summer, but fear of another costly write-off is holding the team back.

Tuchel has only 20-year-old Armando Bruga to turn to as a replacement for Havertz but the Albanian still has a long way to go before he can be counted on as a top scorer.

With Chelsea’s defense still weak despite the investment and Tuchel desperately switching from a three to four man defense in a bid to give his squad more quality, a new striker appears to be the only solution.