Exclusive says Chelsea have had “talks” over breakout striker star they’ve watched “for some time” | OneFootball

With Liam Delap signed and Nicolas Jackson and Marc Guiu already on the books, many Chelsea fans would have expected our striker transfers to be done for the summer.

But instead there’s constant links going the other way – we’ve heard so much chatter about interest in Hugo Ekitike this week that we’ve just got to take seriously the idea that we could go back into the market for another forward.

Ekitike has long felt like an unrealistic options – simply too expensive to be feasible this summer. But another player in the Bundesliga is now getting mentioned with some more convincing links.

Striker’s monster season puts him on Chelsea’s radar

Nick Woltemade scores for Germany. (Photo by Christian Hofer/Getty Images)

Nick Woltemade is a name that’s burst into everyone’s phone screen this week after a hattrick for Germany’s U21s at the Euros. But this was just the latest chapter in his prolific season.

He scored 17 and assisted 3 in 33 games across all competitions, as be broke out as the latest player to impress for Stuttgart. Chelsea are clearly keen, as we hear from top Bundesliga insider Christian Falk:

“Chelsea FC have submitted enquiries to Nick Woltemade’s management team. There have been talks,” Falk exclusively told CaughtOffside in their latest Falk Files column.

“The Londoners have been monitoring the striker for some time. Chelsea enquired about the contract until 2028 and were informed that there is no clause for an early transfer.

“Atletico Madrid are also interested in the striker.”

Chelsea can swoop now for lower price or risk paying more in the future

Woltemade won’t come cheap after such a prolific season, but he’s still relatively affordable compared to the likes of Ekitike. The lack of a release clause makes things a little tricky, but we given we’ve reportedly been monitoring the young German for a while, we can see a bid getting serious before too long.