Alvaro Morata was signed for £60 million from Real Madrid last summer, but is still misfiring at Chelsea.
He was initially intended to be a replacement for Diego Costa, who had fallen out with former Blues boss Antonio Conte.
In spite of a promising start in London, Morata soon suffered a terrible run of form. Conte began to lose faith in the club-record signing, and even went on to sign Olivier Giroud from Arsenal in January to provide competition.
Under Maurizio Sarri, Morata started the season as first choice striker, but has lost his place to Giroud once again.
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And now Chelsea have finally run out of patience with the Spaniard, and plan to replace him with either Inter Milan’s Mauro Icardi or AC Milan’s Patrick Cutrone.
Icardi is naturally their priority in January, but the 25-year-old Argentine won’t come cheap.
He came through Sampdoria’s youth set-up and had barely spent one season with the senior team, before Inter snapped him up in 2013.
His goal-scoring record for the Italians is mind-boggling, with a return of 103 in 165 Serie A appearances.
Icardi has been linked with a move to Real Madrid several times in the past, as a possible replacement for Cristiano Ronaldo. His current contract runs till 2021, and he’d cost at least £90 million.
Cutrone, on the other hand, might be a cheaper, long-term solution to Chelsea’s problems.
He only became an AC Milan regular last season, scoring 10 goals in the Serie A. Milan’s summer signing Andre Silva was under-performing, and Cutrone made the most of his opportunities.
This season, Gattuso has chosen to rotate his striking options so far, meaning that Cutrone has seen lesser game time than usual, with Gonzalo Higuain being the preferred man up front.
The 20-year-old is the prototype number 9, known for his strength, positioning, aerial abilities and finishing. He’s still a relatively unknown entity, but might be worth a gamble for Maurizio Sarri and Chelsea.
Morata will still have some chances to try to prove his worth at Stamford Bridge, but with Giroud having established himself as first choice, time is not on his side.