Chelsea join Tottenham and West Ham in the race for 22-year-old Nottingham star

Chelsea have expressed interest in signing Nottingham Forest star Brennan Johnson

Chelsea have now joined Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United in acquiring the services of Nottingham Forest forward Brennan Johnson, while Brentford had their £35 million offer turned down earlier this summer.

According to the Evening Standard, (h/t Metro), the Blues feel they are favourites to land the forward for £40m, despite Forest valuing Johnson at £45m–50m. The 22-year-old was a crucial player for his side, who were promoted to the Premier League last summer. He enjoyed a brilliant debut campaign in the top flight, scoring eight goals in 38 league games.

Chelsea are looking to make further additions following the injury of Christopher Nkunku, who will be out until December. The Blues attacking options are only Nicolas Jackson and Armando Broja, but Broja’s return to full fitness remains unclear.

The West Londoners also had their sights on Michael Olise, who agreed to join the club but instead decided to sign a new contract at Crystal Palace. Their £35 million bid for the winger saw them get no response from Palace, which has forced the club to look for more attacking signings in the market.

Olise has now penned a new deal at Selhurst Park, more or less ending our pursuit of him. We do not have time to dawdle over the snub and should focus instead on identifying players who are attainable.

Johnson is a young player who played the entire Premier League season last year, but Chelsea must solve their goal-scoring problems because he is not an out-and-out goal-getter. Johnson is 22 and has good potential. But we are better off pursuing a more seasoned player who knows his way around the penalty area.

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• Transfer News: Chelsea will turn down AC Milan’s bid for Armando Broja

We don’t want to experience the same problems as last season when we were unable to capitalise on our numerous opportunities to score goals. Not learning from recent difficulties should once again see us struggle to make an impact in the race for the top four.