Despite leaving in 2018, Chelsea have still not replaced the brilliance of Diego Costa up front.

Many centre forwards have tried to replicate what he provided, including Alvaro Morata and Romelu Lukaku, but neither of those were anywhere near as impactful.

In his 120 appearances for the Blues, the Spain international netted 59 times and provided 21 assists, while also lifting the Premier League trophy twice.

With Todd Boehly’s aim being to achieve that feat once again, it’s no surprise to see that he’s attempting to sign Chelsea’s next Costa this summer.

Chelsea’s hunt for a new centre forward

According to journalist Gianluca Di Marzio, Chelsea are extremely keen on signing Samuel Omorodion.

After failing to secure the signature of Benjamin Sesko, it’s said that the centre forward is now their ‘first-choice’ target.

The Blues have already reportedly submitted a bid in the region of £34m, but it’s unfortunately been rejected by Atletico Madrid.

Nevertheless, Chelsea will continue to work on a deal to secure the 20-year-old, who enjoyed an excellent breakthrough campaign in La Liga last season.

Why Omorodion could be the next Diego Costa

Omorodion is a new name to have taken La Liga by storm recently while spending his debut season on loan at Alaves.

After only being promoted last campaign, the Spanish side exceeded all expectations, finishing tenth, with the Atletico loanee playing a huge role.

Across the season, the number 32 made 35 appearances in La Liga, starting 22 of those as a lone striker in a 4-2-3-1 system.

Over these appearances, the 6-foot-4 “monster,” as dubbed by football scout Jacek Kulig, netted an impressive nine goals, four more than Alaves’ next-highest scorer.

As you can see by the stats, Omorodion is the definition of a true number nine; he’s a handful in the box due to his physicality, which sounds rather similar to the style of play Costa used to adopt, both winning a high-volume of duels.

The Atleti youngster has excellent movement, which often means he finds himself in brilliant positions, as shown in the clip below, but work has to be done on his finishing, as he missed 19 big chances last season.

For some, that statistic may be a huge concern, but it can also be viewed from the perspective that he knows how to get into great goalscoring positions, which, at his stage of development, is arguably more important.

Now, it’s quite clear that his overall statistics aren’t exactly eye-catching; in fact, they’re rather poor, but it’s important to include environmental context.

For example, Omorodion plays for a side that has just over 40% possession per game while also scoring less than one goal per match, which is a huge reason why his touches, passes completed, and overall involvement are low.

But how exactly could Omorodion become the Blues’ next Costa?

Well, on top of both the centre forwards being target men strikers from Spain, the ex-Alaves would also arrive at Chelsea from Atletico Madrid, just like Costa.

As shown by the statistics above, they’re both dangerous strikers who know where the back of the net is, and they won’t allow the opposition any rest.

Overall, it’s clear that signing Omorodion for such a huge fee is a massive risk, especially considering he’s had just one year of experience, but his goal tally indicates that in a more creative side like Chelsea, he has the potential to explode.

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