Chelsea turn to 24-year-old Bundesliga forward to solve striking crisis

Transfer News: Stuttgart striker Sasa Kalajdzic is back on Chelsea’s radar

Chelsea are believed to be one of four Premier League clubs interested in Stuttgart striker Sasa Kalajdzic, according to Transfermarkt’s Manuel Veth (h/t the Sun). The 24-year-old was on the Blues’ radar last year but a move to West London didn’t materialise. 

A year later, he has sparked interest again but this time, Chelsea will need to fend not only Premier League rivals Manchester United, Tottenham and Leicester City off, but Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund as well.

In the past, Kalajdzic has been linked with West Ham, RB Leipzig and AS Roma. There is no smoke without fire, so there’s a reason for the Austrian’s hype. 

During his three year spell thus far at the Mercedes Benz Arena, Kalajdzic has scored 24 goals and provided 9 assists in 57 games for the club. He has also earned 15 caps for Austria since making his senior national team debut in October 2020, scoring four goals. 

A shoulder injury kept the striker out until January but following his return, he scored six league goals and set up two more to help Stuttgart avoid relegation. 

The season before, he scored 16 league goals and set up six more in 33 appearances. That was enough to capture Chelsea’s attention, and it doesn’t seem to have faded since. 

Is Kalajdzic the man for Chelsea?

Standing at 6ft 7ins, Kalajdzic sure is a towering presence in the box and has a knack for being at the right place at the right time.  That might prove to be decisive for Chelsea, but whether he will fit into Tuchel’s system or not is dependent on a lot of other factors. 

Chelsea haven’t made any acquisitions this summer, so there is no clarity yet on the shape of the squad and who are the players who will be running the midfield and forward line next year. 

There’s also a slender chance that Chelsea may go the Man City way from last season and play without a traditional No. 9, in which case, signing Kalajdzic wouldn’t make sense. 

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As an out and out forward, he could turn out to be very efficient. With many clubs in the running though, the price is likely to be a premium on his market value. 

For now, Chelsea seem more focused on the likes of Jules Kounde and Raheem Sterling. Hence, it is highly unlikely we will see any formal approach for the Austrian from Chelsea before the Kounde and Sterling deals are over the line.