Chelsea told to move for Arsenal target as legend names problem position

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Evening Standard

·4 juin 2026

Chelsea told to move for Arsenal target as legend names problem position

The former Blues player believes he knows where Chelsea’s problems lie and also what the solution is.

Glen Johnson believes Chelsea need to be targeting a striker this summer, and hopes they can move for Atletico Madrid’s Julian Alvarez.

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Chelsea are coming off the back of a troubled season, finishing ninth in the Premier League and missing out on European football. It was a season characterised by a lack of consistency and ability to kill off games.

To try and remedy this, Chelsea have signed former Bayer Leverkusen and Real Madrid manager Xabi Alonso who is anticipating a busy transfer window.

New target: Chelsea have been told to move for Julian Alvarez

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The former Chelsea defender Johnson believes there is only one place Alonso should be looking to bolster his squad.

“Signing a striker should be priority number one for Chelsea this summer." Johnson told Football.London.

“You can't compete at the top of the Premier League without an out-and-out striker scoring 20 goals a season, and Chelsea don't have someone of that description at the moment.

"Those are the types of players you need to drag you through games when you're poor, to score a goal out of nothing so you win games instead of drawing to opposition you should be beating if you want to compete.”

Joao Pedro has been the first choice up front for Chelsea this season and had an impressive debut campaign, ending up with a respectable 15 goals.

Joao Pedro was left out of Brazil’s World Cup squad despite a strong campaign

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In spite of his heroics, Johnson believes a game-winning number nine like Atletico’s Alvarez, previously targeted by Arsenal, is what they need.

"I think Julian Alvarez from Atletico Madrid would be perfect. He seems like he's on the move this summer and that's exactly the type of player Chelsea need to go out and snap up,” Johnson explained.

“He has proven in the past he can score goals in the Premier League during his time at Man City, and if they could do a sensible deal, offering someone the other way, for example, then that would be a brilliant signing.

“Chelsea fans would be buzzing with seeing him coming through the door."