Five strikers for Chelsea to savour for next season

Romelu Lukaku
On-loan Everton striker Lukaku has scored more Premier League goals (12) than Torres (four), Samuel Eto’o (eight) or Demba Ba (three) back at his parent club. Mourinho could do a lot worse than backing the big Belgian to be the focal point of his attack next term.

Chelsea’s success in the first Mourinho spell and since has largely come because of a strong, mobile frontman in Didier Drogba. Lukaku is in the same mould. At just 20 years of age, he still has some development to do, but he is the best in-house solution the Blues have.

There are similarities between Lukaku and Drogba’s early Premier League seasons too. Having a target up top that holds the ball up and can bring teammates into play may be old-fashioned, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it will fail to succeed at the Bridge.

Mourinho should place faith in Lukaku to do a job that Torres, Eto’o and Ba simply are not capable of doing. The best thing about this, from an accounting perspective, is he will not cost Chelsea any extra money.

Mario Mandzukic
Robert Lewandowski’s imminent arrival at Champions League holders Bayern Munich may mean the end for Croatia frontman Mandzukic at the Allianz Arena. Mandzukic has done nothing wrong and is the leading Bundesliga marksman, but Pep Guardiola has got a younger man coming in.

What Munich seem willing to let go, for £25m, could spark a bidding war between Premier League giants. Chelsea should be in the thick of that alongside Arsenal and Manchester United. So will be Juventus, who have dominated Italy’s Serie A in the same way Bayern have swept aside all challengers in Germany.

Mandzukic is slightly rangier than the Drogba mould allows for, but still possesses sufficient strength and is certainly mobile enough to fit the bill. He has already surpassed last season’s total for Munich in the current campaign, so he could be on course to break the 30-goal barrier for the first time in his career.

At 27, Mandzukic is entering his prime, but England is not exactly a place where Croatia international strikers have flourished in the past. The likes of Ivan Klasnic (Bolton Wanderers) and Mladen Petric (Fulham and West Ham) have flopped after swapping the Bundesliga for the Premier League.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Rumours in February surfaced that Mourinho might launch an audacious £32m bid to land Sweden star Ibrahimovic. ‘The Special One’ swiftly scotched such speculation, however.

Ibrahimovic worked with Mourinho at Inter Milan, but it is PSG boss Laurent Blanc who is getting the best out him. Showing no signs of slowing down at 32, the Swede has averaged a goal per game for the Parisians this term.

Reaching 40 in all competitions by mid-March is frightening, no matter what league you play in. Could Ibrahimovic become bored in Ligue 1 as French opposition looks simply too easy for him? He has never played in the Premier League either, so could he be tempted to finish his career here?

PSG are a decent outside bet to win the Champions League this term, simply because of Ibrahimovic’s presence at the Parc des Princes. He is also chasing the Golden Boot and has hugely attractive odds of 4/1 to be leading marksman. Football fans want to see him in the Premier League next season.