Chelsea will “always look to be in the market for a striker”, says Tore Andre Flo, but the former Blues forward believes Frank Lampard has enough firepower at his disposal and could look to use Tammy Abraham and Timo Werner in tandem.
At present, those at Stamford Bride are favouring a system that involves a lone frontman supported by wide attackers and deep-lying playmakers.
That approach allows Lampard to get many of his big-hitters into the same starting XI, but a tactical tweak could be on the cards as the Premier League heavyweights scratch around for consistency.
More movement in the transfer market has been mooted, with Olivier Giroud being linked with a move elsewhere as a possible replacement for him comes in, and Flo is not surprised by the speculation.
The ex-Blues star, who hit 50 goals for the club, told Bookmakers.co.uk: “There are a lot of rumours and it’s hard to comment on them until they become more than just rumours. But a club like Chelsea will always look to be in the market for a striker.”
Flo, who was with Chelsea between 1997 and 2000, added on the potential for Lampard to use Werner and Abraham as a strike pairing: “I think they can work together.
“I don’t think they’ve quite found the right rhythm to maximise a partnership just yet, but I think they can do – there’s more to come.
“As a striker you need goals and finally Werner found the net again and hopefully that can instil confidence and he’ll continue to score.
“He’s more than capable of doing well in the league, it’s just about getting a few goals and getting that confidence up.”
Chelsea need to find inspiration from somewhere, having struggled for form domestically of late, with pressure building on Lampard as he looks to put an expensively-assembled squad in contention for major honours.
Flo said: “Yes, the results have probably not been as good as we would have liked lately, it’s been up and down, but it’s such a strange season – we’ve seen many clubs doing really well and then suddenly fall, and vice versa.
“Chelsea are no different and I really hope that Frank gets the whole season to prove himself and stay on to build what I think can be a very good team.
“I think the aim should be to get a Champions League place for next season, so a top-four finish would be a success.
“It looks unlikely that Chelsea will win the league, unless they go on a really good run and others stumble, so I think realistically another top-four finish would be a good result.
“They could also go far in the Champions League as well which would be really important for the club and also for the fans.
“A run in Europe could really show that the club is on its way back to former glories.”