Chelsea are reportedly plotting a very weird and surprising move for Stoke City veteran Peter Crouch as an alternative target for the injured Andy Carroll.
The 2017-18 January transfer window has not been kind to Chelsea fans. The Blues have been linked with very weird moves in the market. However, it cannot get weirder than this, with reports from The Mirror claiming that Chelsea are eyeing former Liverpool striker Peter Crouch after another former Liverpool man Andy Carroll, another Chelsea target, has succumbed to injury.
Chelsea’s problems upfront have been all too visible in the recent matches, with Alvaro Morata, Eden Hazard and Michy Batshuayi unable to find their scoring boots in the last few weeks. But, the targets that have been mentioned in the media, i.e. Andy Carroll, Christian Benteke and now Peter Crouch, hardly instil any confidence or hope of an improvement for Chelsea fans.
Peter Crouch is one of the most natural and a throwback to the era of towering frontmen that ruled world football. A total of 182 career goals sees him lodge his name as one of the most successful strikers in English football.
But, a major portion of his career has been spent playing for lower clubs, which begs you to think how many more he would have been able to add to his career tally had he played more for the bigger clubs – more than 60% of his career matches have come for clubs other than the perennial top 6.
Chelsea have made contact with Stoke about the possibility of signing Peter Crouch. ⬇ https://t.co/PU5zhxW095 pic.twitter.com/iyBGOOkqPA
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) January 19, 2018
And now, nearing the twilight of his career, at the age of 36, the player could well be on his way back to one of the top English clubs. In a bizarre development, the player has been linked to Chelsea.
Peter Crouch looked set to leave Stoke at the end of the 2017-18 campaign. But, the player recently signed a new deal with the Potters, showing just how much the club rates Crouch and his contribution. His new deal is set to run till 2019 and while Stoke would like to retain his services, we could see them pocket decent transfer fee, should Chelsea come knocking.
The report entails that Antonio Conte wants to add a towering striker to his squad at Chelsea, which seems in line with the types of players that is reported to be targeting. This could see the Blues have a plan B in case their usual playing style does not reap dividends, as has been the case in the recent matches.
Chelsea fans had thought the injury to Andy Carroll was a blessing in disguise, but the transfer market seems to be going from bad to worse. The Blues will now hope the rumour stays just a rumour. However, given Chelsea’s desperation to add a striker, we might just see the unthinkable happen.
