January plans for striker look cancelled after Chelsea’s latest squad move | OneFootball

Kieran Gill’s Chelsea Confidential is full of interesting stuff as ever this week, including on the subject of Emanuel Emegha.

There’s been a lot of speculation that the striker, set to join Chelsea next summer from sister club Strasbourg, could see his move brought forward to January. That’s in part because Chelsea are short handed up top while Liam Delap is injured (he will be back before long, but clearly we need more depth in any case), and partly because Emegha’s pre-planned exit from the French side is making him unpopular there.

Chelsea planning on multi-striker approach

However, Gill’s update on the situation makes it seem like Chelsea aren’t too keen on that option. In fact, he feels the need to make it clear that Emegha will be staying at Stamford Bridge when he arrives and won’t be loaned out again:

“[Emegha] is set to stay with Chelsea once he arrives from Strasbourg next summer,” Gill writes.

“The 22-year-old, who was previously being chased by some of European football’s powerhouses, will add to the depth already at the Blues’ disposal. Other clubs may like relying upon a singular star striker, but that is a risky approach in my view”

“Chelsea already have Liam Delap, Joao Pedro and Marc Guiu, and as of next season, they will also have Emegha and the versatile Dastan Satpaev, who will arrive from Kazakhstani side Kairat when he turns 18 in August.”

Early arrival plans look shelved after Guiu minutes

Marc Guiu against Liverpool. (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)

So we know that the Blues are planning on using Emegha in the first team next season – but what aboutin January? The fact that they’ve now locked in Marc Guiu for the season, alongside the others named above, may hint that they’re not going to bring in Emegha early.