Jose Mourinho returned to Chelsea for the second time earlier in the summer after his disappointing final season with Real Madrid last term. The Portuguese tactician added several attacking players to the squad.
However, Chelsea’s top target throughout the summer transfer window was Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney. The Europa League winners made multiple bids in signing the England international, but the English champions were quick enough to knock down the offer from the Blues.
Mourinho finally accepted defeat in Rooney chase and bought Samuel Eto’o in the summer. Prior to the former Barcelona star’s arrival, Chelsea had the services of Fernando Torres, Demba Ba and Romelu Lukaku as the club’s first choice strikers.
The Belgium striker was sent on a season long loan to Everton and Chelsea’s trio of strikers have been struggling to find their best form. The situation has been a matter of worry for the Blues manager, who is looking to bring in reinforcements in January.
The Express reports the West London club are interested in signing Galatasaray star Burak Yilmaz, beating the likes of Arsenal and Liverpool for the striker’s signature. Chelsea are likely to use Ba as a bait in bringing Yilmaz to the club.
The former Madrid manager has long been an admirer of the Turkish international and is believed to have set his eyes on bringing Yilmaz to Stamford Bridge in the winter transfer window.
Yilmaz has been a goal scoring machine for the Turkish champions and has bagged 32 goals in all competitions during the last season. He has been impressive for Galatasaray in his debut season and was the top scorer in Turkish league for the past two seasons, with the earlier one being with Trabzonspor.
In addition to this, Yilmaz has proved his worth at the European stage. With the 28-year-old impressing at both domestic and in the Champions League, the addition of Yilmaz would boost their attacking division.
Meanwhile, Yilmaz is believed to be available for a transfer fee around £20m. However, Chelsea could use Ba in a swap deal, which could see the transfer fee further being reduced, should the move takes shape in January.
Eto’o has failed to impress when given a chance to shine while Torres off late has been showing improvement with his form. However, the former Liverpool star has endured a poor goal scoring record for Chelsea, which could force the Mourinho to bring in a striker in January.
Chelsea have been a missing a striker in the squad since Didier Drogba left the club and are yet to replace the Blues legend at Stamford Bridge. Yilmaz has played with him and his experience at domestic and European stage would further strengthen the squad, should he decide to make a move to the English capital.
Scouting Burak Yilmaz (video),
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qP6OKFpWFY0