Ideal long-term solution to Chelsea’s No. 9 woes? Sarri should go all out to secure this 23-year-old Portuguese sensation

Andre Silva would be a good long-term solution to Chelsea’s No.9 woes

According to the Sun, Chelsea are interested in signing AC Milan striker Andre Silva in the January transfer window, with Maurizio Sarri desperate to bolster his attack to secure a top-four finish.

The Sun claims that Silva, who is currently on loan at La Liga club Sevilla,  would only be available if Chelsea agree to offer the services of Alvaro Morata in return.

Silva will return to Italy if Chelsea agree to loan Morata to Sevilla till the end of the season, which in turn, would allow the Blues to secure the services of the Portuguese talisman.

Chelsea are keen to get rid of their mega-money flop Alvaro Morata, who has scored only 24 goals from 72 appearances for the Blues. Silva, on the other hand, has rediscovered his goal-scoring mojo in the La Liga, scoring 8 goals from 17 appearances this season.

The 23-year-old’s return to form has been enough to convince the Blues that he can solve their No.9 crisis for the foreseeable future.

An academy graduate of FC Porto, Andre Silva made his first-team debut towards the end of 2015 after impressing for the reserves. However, he enjoyed his breakthrough in the 2016-17 season, scoring 16 goals and providing 5 assists in the Portuguese top flight.

Silva’s heroics not only earned him a coveted move to AC Milan at the start of the 2017-18 campaign but he was also named in Portugal’s squad for the 2017 Confederations Cup in Russia. However, the 23-year-old failed to live up to the hype in the Serie A despite being handed the No.9 shirt for the season. He was loaned out to Seville at the start of the ongoing season after finding the net on only 2 occasions for the Italian giants.

Standing at 6ft, Silva has all the makings of developing into a world-class No.9 and has already shown glimpses of his brilliance both at the club and international level. While he has the physique, power, resilience and the instincts of a good old-fashioned forward, the 23-year-old is also blessed with the necessary dynamism in his game to taste success in any top league in Europe.

Silva’s main attributes are his intelligence and broad tactical understanding of the game. A mobile striker who is known for his ability to shift positions in the attacking third, Silva can drop deep to receive the ball, drift wide to supply crosses into the box and can also make subtle runs in behind the opposition’s backline to get into scoring positions.

A striker blessed with bountiful assets, the 23-year-old not only has the ability to score goals with his poaching instincts inside the box but can also create goals with his short and incisive passing, often performing subtle layoffs and flick-ons to tee up his teammates in and around the penalty area.

As a matter of fact, 27 of his 41 shots and 6 out of his 8 goals in the La Liga this season have come from inside the penalty area, figures which are enough to label him as a fox in the box. Furthermore, Silva has good aerial abilities and tends to outjump his defensive counterparts to score goals from set-pieces.

To put things into perspective, Silva can be a wonderful buy for Chelsea. Sarri has been forced to use Eden Hazard as a false nine in his front three, with both Morata and Olivier Giroud looking out of sorts this season. While that ploy has worked at times, Chelsea have found themselves short of a prolific centre-forward to compete with the likes of Liverpool, Manchester City and Spurs.

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Someone like Silva, who is only 23, can be a better long-term solution to Chelsea’s No. 9 woes as compared to the 31-year-old Gonzalo Higuain. That said, the Blues should not hesitate to offload Morata and secure the services of the prolific Portuguese hitman in January.