Chelsea looking to add Bundesliga star to all-Samba strikeforce
Published:It seems Jose Mourinho isn’t content with adding just one Brazilian striker to his front line for next season, with one of the country’s brightest young talents soon to be the subject of a transfer bid from Chelsea.
A £32m deal for Atletico Madrid’s Brazilian-turned-Spaniard Diego Costa is already thought to be in the bag for the Stamford Bridge club, who are 9/4 to claim next season’s Premier League title, but that won’t deter them from offering a further £15m for Hoffenheim’s Roberto Firmino.
The 22-year-old has enjoyed a stellar campaign in Germany this season, scoring 16 goals in 33 league starts to earn the enviable status as the highest scoring, non-nationalised Brazilian in Europe.
A strike partnership of the man known as Atletico’s Beast and the slightly more diminutive Firmino would surely end any Mourinho moans about a lack of goal-scoring vitality.
The pair notched an impressive 43 league strikes between them over the course of the campaign, which would have equated to 60 per cent of Chelsea’s Premier League total had they been at the club this season.
It’s Firmino’s versatility that makes him an attractive proposition for his growing list of suitors – a queue that also contains Liverpool, Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
Having played up-front, as a number 10, in central midfield and on the left hand side of a front-three in his appearances for Hoffenheim this term, the Figueirense-youth’s adaptability will lend itself to a manager that decided to use a full-back as a winger in his Champions League clash with Atletico.
In the top 20 of Whoscored.com’s Bundesliga stats for assists, key passes and dribbles it’s clear that Chelsea would be acquiring a player of immense technical ability but his 2.2 successful aerial duels is just as eye catching for a player standing at just 5ft 11in.
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