Chelsea are among the teams “considering” whether to make a bid for Benfica striker Vangelis Pavlidis, according to reports in Portugal.

The Greece international has been in outstanding form in recent months, having scored 17 times in his last 17 appearances at club level.

Portuguese newspaper Record claim that the Blues, Newcastle, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid all have Pavlidis on their list of targets.

However, Benfica are not expected to let him leave on the cheap, with it being reported that they may try and hold out for his €100m (£86m) release clause.

Pavlidis is not just on a hot streak

The 26-year-old has been a consistent scorer for the last six seasons. He found the net 13 times for Dutch club Willem II in his first full year as a professional player (2019/20).

In 2020/21, Pavlidis followed that up with another 14 goals prior to moving to AZ Alkmaar. Over the next three years, the forward would score 25, 22 and 33.

That led to him signing for Benfica for €18m last summer. He now has 24 goals and 10 assists in 46 appearances for the Portuguese side.

There are still question marks about the Chelsea target

One of the main concerns about Pavlidis is that he has not played in a top 5 European league. At international level, he has only scored 8 in 46 caps. It would, therefore, be a risk to sign him.

If we compare his numbers to Sporting Lisbon’s Viktor Gyokeres, for example, he has scored 20 fewer goals this season despite having played 2 more games.

For that reason, the Blues should be hesitant about paying a figure anywhere close to Pavilidis’s release clause. His record shows that he is a goalscorer but whether he has the skillset to make it in the Premier League is another matter entirely.

Find out who is in Chelsea’s first-team squad for the 2024/2025 season here