Galatasaray striker Burak Yilmaz has been made Chelsea’s number one target for the January transfer window as Jose Mourinho is keen to bolster his goal-shy front line.
According to reports in the Metro, Mourinho is unimpressed by Chelsea’s current forward options and Yilmaz has been identified as a major target for the Portuguese manager.
The 28-year-old was linked with a move to Stamford Bridge over the summer following an impressive season in which he scored 32 goals in 39 games, but a move didn’t materialise and Chelsea spent much of the summer concentrating on an ill-fated chase for Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney.
It’s thought that the West Londoners are willing to go as high as £28 million for Yilmaz whilst one of the current forwards, most likely Demba Ba, could potentially be used as a make weight.
I’m not quite sure what to make of this rumour myself as it all boils down to the logic that Mourinho is after a physically dominant forward like former stalwart Didier Drogba, but nothing of the way we’ve played this season suggests that’s the type we need and we loaned our most promising/physical striker out to Everton before the close of the summer window.
Yilmaz is the only forward that we have been linked to fairly recently that hasn’t already moved, like Radamel Falcao and Edinson Cavani, and it’s clear now that signing a Rooney or Bayern bound Robert Lewandowski is highly unlikely, so this looks like your typical rehashed rumour during a time things are quite.
On top of that, it’s unlikely that Yilmaz is a viable long term option at his age and such an outlay would be a huge risk on a player that has spent his entire career in Turkey. It’d be yet another expensive half-measure and if Chelsea want to spend big money then they have to make sure it’s on one of the best.
Source: Metro
