Hasselbaink Warns Of Dressing Room Unrest If Chelsea Decide To Go Ahead With Sealing £80M January Transfer

Chelsea legend Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink has questioned the club’s desire to sign a new striker when the transfer window reopens.

Brentford’s Ivan Toney and Napoli’s Victor Osimhen have both been heavily linked with a transfer to Stamford Bridge but Hasselbaink fears that their arrival at the club could do more harm than good in terms of dressing room morale:

“Chelsea are not scared of the transfer fee but, if you go back into the window and bring in another striker, I don’t think this is the right thing to do for the dressing room. You are going to get an overcrowded dressing room again.”

“You have three strikers already, or someone has to go if you bring in an Osimhen or Toney. This market in January is the hardest to do business.”

Chelsea may feel that they have no choice but to reinforce the front three

After the Blues fluffed their lines in the 2-1 defeat to Manchester United on Wednesday night, there will be fresh calls for a new No. 9 to be brought in.

Many feel that Nicolas Jackson is not ready to lead the line at the highest level, while Armando Broja also needs to prove that he can be relied upon to play for long spells without picking up injuries. The lack of a top striker may, therefore, force the club back into the transfer market.

Will Osimhen or Toney join Chelsea?

While the Blues may favour a move for Osimhen, the likelihood of the Nigerian international leaving Napoli in January is very low. It would also require a club-record fee to secure the player’s signature.

For that reason, Mauricio Pochettino’s side will likely pursue Toney instead. Reports suggest that Brentford may sell next month if they receive an offer in the region of £80m for the England forward.

David Tully

David Tully

David has worked as a football reporter for the last fifteen years. Having started as an intern at Snack Media, he then went on to become a freelancer, working on various different sites. At the start of 2023, he took up his current role as content writer for National World's Football News Network.