Chelsea target prolific La Liga star and it isn’t Diego Costa

There has rarely been a passing day where Chelsea haven’t been linked with some goal-hungry front man or another to replace their misfiring mob of strikers.

Jose Mourinho has made no secret of the fact that he wants Roman Abramovich to fund the purchase of a stadium-filling striker this summer, with Fernando Torres, Samuel Eto’o and Demba Ba all not up to his liking.

Radamel Falcao has been mooted, Diego Costa more so, but now a new name has entered the fray with a record that goes toe-to-toe with either of those two powerhouses, and survives.

After a quiet start to the campaign, Karim Benzema has been back to his goal-machine best of late and while he’s been linked to a move to the Premier League already this term, Chelsea is a new potential destination for the Frenchman.

Without him, Chelsea have managed just fine, as their 11/5 odds to win the title suggest, despite Jose Mourinho’s outrageous down playing.

Should the Real Madrid star come on board for 2014/15, though, then Chelsea really would be an outfit to fear, leaving their manager little option but to boast about their chances to win future titles.

Benzema has scored 23 times in all competitions for club and country this term, with 18 of those coming in his last 24 appearances.

All in all the former Lyon man has been a prolific outlet for Madrid, registering league tallies in double figures in all of his previous four campaigns in Spain.

The two prior to this one were under Mourinho’s guise, with his best career tally to date coming in the Portuguese’s debut season as Madrid boss when he netted 21 times.

Still only 26, Benzema would be a natty acquisition for the foreseeable future and having worked so well with Mourinho in the past, would be just the kind of building block the Blues boss has spoken about building his second Chelsea legacy around.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.

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