Chelsea told they avoided £62.8m Dusan Vlahovic mistake as Romelu Lukaku transfer eyed
It seems as thought Romelu Lukaku's love affair with Chelsea could be coming to an end this
summer.
The Blues would reportedly be looking for around £63million to allow the striker to
leave this summer.
In that case, Thomas Tuchel will be looking to find an adequate replacement in order to
balance the team.
Many options have been looked at in the past including the one and only Erling Haaland.
Even Sergio Aguero was reportedly considered in his last season with Manchester City.
This year, the contest for forwards was lit up with prospects such as Lautaro Martinez,
Karim Adeyemi and of course Dusan Vlahovic.
It was a wonder why Chelsea had never bid for Vlahovic - dubbed the "Zlatan Ibrahimovic
from Belgrade".
But it seems they learnt from their Lukaku mistake.
Dusan Vlahovic was tipped to walk in the shoes of Robert Lewandowski, challenging Erling
Haaland's numbers.
His £62.8million January move to Juventus was quite premature considering the amount
of interest honing in on the striker.
The first half of his season saw him register 20 goals in 24 matches at Fiorentina.
Serenaded by his attacking threat, Arsenal and Mikel Arteta were eager to land the 22-year-olds
signature in the January transfer window.
According to Tuttomercato, Chelsea, Manchester City, Barcelona or Juventus were the four
likely destinations for the Serbian.
His representatives were clear that Arsenal was not an option for their star player, and
he preferred a move to one of the other four clubs that had been keeping tabs on him.
It seems Chelsea missed out on a repeat of Lukaku's situation.
As it stands, Vlahovic has only scored only 7 goals in 17 games.
A major downgrade from the numbers that he was achieving at Fiorentina who play in the
same league as Juventus, Serie A.
The opposition hasn't changed, but the style of play has and the 22-year-old is said to
be struggling with it.
Former Juventus midfielder Alessio Tacchinardi spoke to SportMediaset about why Vlahovic's
January move has not been a match made in heaven.
"The reduced goal average is due to the game of Juventus," he said.
"The team does not put him in a position to score goals right now.
Romelu Lukaku is arguably going through the same thing at Chelsea.
The Belgian complained about Thomas Tuchel's style of play back in December.
He said: "I’m not happy with the situation and that’s only natural.
The head coach has decided to play a different system and I mustn’t let up, I need to keep
working hard and be professional."
The problem that many Chelsea fans are having with Lukaku is his lack of desire and willingness
to create.
The argument is that the players around him are creating, and he is just not on the end
of these chances.
Many argue that he is too static and does not suit the possession-based, fluid football
that Thomas Tuchel demands.
Opinions are subjective, but the fact is, that if Chelsea want to sell Lukaku this summer,
they'll need to deep dive into a pool of different options that will suit our football.
Vlahovic is a prime example of a forward that the Blues could have gone for and heard the
same old song.
The same old song of Alvaro Morata, Gonzalo Higuain, Radamel Falcao.