Who is £20m Chelsea target Luca Waldschmidt?

Recent reports have linked Chelsea to yet another centre-forward, this time Freiburg frontman Luca Waldschmidt. Although many probably won’t be familiar with the German international, he is a much more realistic transfer target than the likes of Moussa Dembele or Lautaro Martinez. Chelsea are known to be interested in a new striker to challenge Tammy Abraham’s starting berth, with Michy Batshuayi having fallen out of favour at Stamford Bridge and Olivier Giroud’s future uncertain as he approaches the end of his contract and nears his 34th birthday. So, who is Luca Waldschmidt?

Here’s our scout report…

Player Profile

While not necessarily well known to most Chelsea fans, Luca Waldschmidt is a household name in Germany. After coming up through the ranks at Eintracht Frankfurt, he first came into the limelight when he had a sensational tournament at the Under-21 European Championship last Summer – claiming the golden boot with a record amount of seven goals scored as he helped his country to a second-placed finish. The 5″11′ forward continued his momentum going forward into this season, scoring seven goals in fifteen Bundesliga appearances in an injury-riddled campaign. 

One interesting thing to note about Waldschmidt is that he is left footed – an option that Chelsea currently do not have available in attack at the moment. This could lead to him being prioritised by Chelsea over other potential transfer targets in the same position such as Moussa Dembélé or Timo Werner, both of whom are right-footers.

Another interesting thing to mention is that Waldschmidt’s style of play is very different to that of Tammy Abraham’s, as seen in the comparison above. This could be another reason for Chelsea to consider him over other potential targets.

As we can see, Abraham has a much higher xG per 90 than Waldschmidt, which means that the Englishman gets into better goalscoring positions on a much more regular basis. However, he has much fewer dribbles and passes into the penalty area than Waldschmidt, which suggests that the Freiburg man is a much more creative player who looks to fashion more chances for his team mates rather than himself. Despite Abraham having a slightly higher xA per 90, we can clearly see that Waldschmidt is more of a team player whose main role is not necessarily to fashion chances for himself – something that Abraham has received many plaudits for being so good at doing. It could potentially be very beneficial to Chelsea to have two strikers in their squad who are different in their styles of play, as it would mean they could change their tactical approach more easily depending on their opposition. 

For a reported transfer fee of only £20 million, buying Luca Waldschmidt would be a very low-risk transfer which could turn out to be a real bargain, and the German could become a valuable asset to Chelsea’s squad, much like Divock Origi at Liverpool or Gabriel Jesus at Manchester City.

Let us know what you think about this potential transfer at @TheChelseaSpot on Twitter!