With the latest news circulating that Juventus’ Gonzalo Higuain is going to AC Milan rather than Stamford Bridge, Maurizio Sarri has reportedly found his new striker target.
Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski is the man catching Sarri’s eye now with the Pole one of the best pure goalscorers in the world. There have long been rumblings that his time at Bayern was coming to an end and, despite previous links to Real Madrid, it appears Chelsea are the number one contenders for Lewy’s signature.
Is Lewandowski the right man for the job though?
Player Profile
Everyone should know who Robert Lewandowski is. The Polish striker is the world’s premier striker with a frightening goal tally and all the ability anyone could ever want.
At 6’1″ tall, he’s not the tallest striker but he is immensely strong and technically gifted. Bayern’s signing of him on a free transfer from Borussia Dortmund is still one of the greatest pieces of modern-day transfer business and they could be looking at turning a big profit on the Pole if the rumours are to be believed.
Comparison
Perhaps the best comparisons I can do for Lewandowski are with Alvaro Morata, Gonzalo Higuain and Diego Costa’s 2016/17 performances for Chelsea. Morata struggled for large parts of the season and is potentially on his way out; Higuain was Chelsea’s number one target and Costa is the man fans and pundits are saying Chelsea missed last season.
Let’s begin by looking pure goals here:
The numbers don’t lie here. Lewandowski absolutely destroys the other three in terms of goals scored with only Costa getting with ten of the Pole. This also comes with Lewandowski having played two fewer games than Morata and Higuain and EIGHT fewer than Costa.
So, the pure goal numbers show what Lewandowski can do in front of goal but what about his overall play:
Again, it looks favourable for Lewandowski. While he may not come out on top in any of the four categories in this comparison he still scores well.
Gonzalo Higuain has a better pass completion rate with 80% to Lewandowski’s 79% showing that the Pole is able to keep the ball and bring people into play. His 2.06 aerial duels won is only bettered by Alvaro Morata with 2.44 which goes to show that Lewandowski is a skilled operator in the air and offers an out ball if Chelsea are struggling.
The only weak part to Lewandowski’s game here is his successful take-ons as they sit at 29.03%, way below Costa on 41.79%. However, Lewandowski usually receives the ball near the box and is surrounded quickly and there are plenty of examples of the Polish striker beating a couple of men before scoring.
Summary
This is an absolute no-brainer for me. If Chelsea are wanting to have a regular goalscorer who can lead the line and drag them to victories then Robert Lewandowski is an absolute must.
It’s not every day a world-class striker could be available to a club and Roman Abramovich should loosen the purse strings again to get the Pole to Stamford Bridge.
