Chelsea did make an enquiry for Nottingham Forest striker Taiwo Awoniyi 48 hours before the transfer window closed, according to The Athletic.
The approach for the Nigerian international was turned down but fans on X are surprised that the Blues considered pursuing the forward:
This is insane
— Boss_CFC (@DONSKYZ) September 7, 2023
Surely not?
— CFCJohnnyB (@CFCJohnnyB) September 7, 2023
just doing anything.
— 🤠 (@Jabs_VF) September 7, 2023
Nope……not Chelsea standard
— 8:6teen (@6teenzy) September 7, 2023
No,AWONIYI is not a Chelsea type of player,he is Lukaku 2.0
Get Me Toney in January or break the bank for oshimhen— Sam (@CFC_SAM7) September 7, 2023
at this point it’s just a scatter gun approach
— Ayomide Adebayo (@ayomide_ad33466) September 7, 2023
This club isn’t serious and I don’t know how we got to this level.
— DAVE (@Dajse_22) September 7, 2023
Chelsea fans turning their nose up at this, do we need to run it back and show you what he did to Silva
— power (@woohoowoohoooo) September 7, 2023
Awoniyi has been in good form
The 26-year-old has scored in three of Forest’s first four matches this season, and he also provided the assist for Anthony Elanga to score the winner at Stamford Bridge last weekend.
Awoniyi is a handful. The former Liverpool player is very much a classic target man, who thrives in a physical battle but he does possess decent pace too.
Chelsea are clearly concerned about their lack of firepower
Despite the plaudits that have been handed out to Nicolas Jackson in the opening weeks of the season, there is a general feeling that the Blues are short of options upfront.
Scoring goals has been a big problem for Chelsea in recent seasons and it is something that wasn’t completely addressed in the summer transfer window, despite the arrivals of Jackson, Christopher Nkunku and Cole Palmer.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side are underperforming in front of goal, demonstrated by the fact that their xG exceeds their actual goals scored by 4.24, which is the second worst figure (behind Everton) in the entire Premier League.
