The opinions of outsiders is not something that the Chelsea board are often prepared to entertain.
Why would they? They’re trained professionals. They’ve proven their competence, somewhat. They wield the experience that others do not.
However, there are those who have earned the right to have their opinions heard. Through experience of their own. The blood, sweat and tears they’ve sacrificed for the badge.
Dennis Wise is one of them.
Wise played with some of Chelsea’s greatest ever strikers during his time at Stamford Bridge. From Gianluca Vialli to Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink – even George Weah. He’s well educated on what it takes to score goals for Chelsea.
We had the opportunity to discuss Chelsea’s current striker crisis with the man himself. Though at first he was reluctant to name names, Wise went on to reveal his desire to see Jamie Vardy in a Chelsea shirt:
“I wouldn’t have minded trying to get Vardy if there was an opportunity, because I think he’s an instinctive goal-scorer. Whether or not it’s a little bit too late now is another thing.”
“What you want – you want someone who’s got no fear. He’s the kind of player who’s got no fear.”
“You look at him playing for Leicester and the goal ratio he has. Playing with a better team and getting more chances, I’m sure he’d stick a lot more away.”
Vardy would be an intriguing addition, no doubt. He comes from the Diego Costa school of defender-bullying.
His age would be a potential stumbling block. He’s 31, which means we’d likely only offer him a one-year contract. It’s the same hurdle we failed to scale in our pursuit of Gonzalo Higuain.
With the probability of Chelsea not signing a striker rising, Wise insisted that it’s too early to write off Alvaro Morata. Morata struggled during his debut campaign as a Blue, but the Chelsea legend still has hope that he will come good:
“Let’s not count Morata out. It was his first season. Yes he was disappointing, but he now understands how the Premier League is.”
“It’s important to give him a little bit of time, I think we’re going through a building spell at the minute, it’s important to allow that to happen.”
What do you think, Blues? Do you agree with Wise, or are we in for another frustrating season with Morata are the spearhead of our attack?