So we are now basically at the halfway point in the Premier League season and once again Chelsea's number 9, Fernando Torres, has been under intense scrutiny again. He has shown flashes of his old self during his 2 and a half year stint at Chelsea but he has also cut a frustrated figure most of the time. Since his record breaking 50 million pounds move on deadline day in January 2011, he has struggled to recreate that form that made him one of the most feared strikers in Europe. The days when he was scoring 20-30 goals a season seem to have gone, memories of that fresh faced superstar in the making scoring that decisive goal against Germany in the Euro 2008 final, has vanished. He has continued to be included in the Spanish national team for their 2010 World Cup success in South Africa and their 2012 European championship success in Poland and Ukraine despite playing nowhere near the level he was before. The likes of Roberto Soldado, Fernando Llorente and Alvaro Negredo must be wondering why they haven't been called up or used more frequently with Torres' poor inconsistent form of the last 2 and a half years along with club mate Daniel Sturridge at Chelsea who must be wondering what has he got to do to play. There have been many rumors or excuses if you may call them that stating why, one of these is that he couldn't play as well at Chelsea as at Liverpool because he wasn't seen as the star striker in the manager’s eyes as he was in Merseyside. Chelsea's strike force already contained Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka, two experienced forwards who complimented each other very well. They also had promising youngster Daniel Sturridge on their books who was loaned to Bolton before Torres arrived. So ok maybe people had a point, maybe because he wasn't the star striker, he couldn't play as well. In the summer of 2012, club legend Didier Drogba (who was his main competition for the central striking position - Andre Villas-Boas offloaded Nicolas Anelka and used Daniel Sturridge as a right winger), didn't renew his contract with the Blues after their historic Champions League win in Munich. Torres was given another chance to see if he could reproduce his form from a few seasons ago as the main man so to speak, more due to Roman Abramovich's perseverance for Torres to succeed, having poured 50 million pounds into his signing, rather than Roberto Di Matteo's preference in not bringing in another striker who was Atletico Madrid's record breaking signing Radamel Falcao. Half a season in and things have changed, Rafa Benitez is now Chelsea coach, Chelsea have failed in many of the 7 competitions they were in at the start of the season but one thing hasn't changed: Fernando Torres is still performing quite poorly - despite scoring more goals this season - so with January coming up surely a striker must be top of Rafa Benitez/Roman Abramovich's list if the team is to fulfill the potential it has. There are multiple names linked with the Blues, as there always is, but the three that will be mentioned are more obvious choices due to Abramovich's preference in "big names": Atletico Madrids' Columbian goal machine Radamel Falcao is continually being linked with a move having first being linked in 2011 when his former boss Andre Villas-Boas was at the helm. He scored a hattrick against the Blues in the UEFA super cup and has apparently agreed a deal to move there in January if you want to believe it. Another player who has been repeatedly linked with Chelsea in the last few seasons, is Napoli's well sought after front man Edison Cavani, Chelsea know what he can do having seen him shoot them down in Naples last season in a 3-1 loss to Napoli in the Champions League under Portuguese coach Andre Villas-Boas. Schalke's Jan Klaas Huntelaar is also linked with multiple teams due to his contract expiring in the summer of 2013 and doesn't look like he will renew it but Chelsea will face competition from multiple teams for his signature, in fact they will for any of the three of the strikers. Who out of the 3 would suit Chelsea and Roman Abramovich's "Barca in blue" dream? Right now Torres isn't just performing a role of a traditional number 9, he is coming deep to get the ball to draw defenders out to allow goal scoring wingers Juan Mata and Eden Hazard to run into the space exposed by the centre backs. He is also offering a lot in general play; he’s averaging 1.1 key passes per game, linking up the midfield and frontline to try and bring the likes of Juan Mata, Eden Hazard, Ramires and Victor Moses or whoever is in the team into the game. Right now for Schalke, Hunterlar seems to be playing the role of a poacher, usually running the 18 yard line and looking to pounce in the box from crosses/through balls from the likes of Affelay, Draxler, Farfan etc. It would be hard to imagine him as that sort of player coming deep to get the ball to link up play or take it past players when he’s not got a lethal injection of pace to get away from players or noted for having great dribbling ability. This season in the Bundesliga he has averaged 0.5 dribbles per game which is low compared to Torres' 1.3 per game in the Premier League, Lewandowski's 1.3 per game in the Bundesliga, Falcao's 0.8 dribbles per game in La Liga and Edison Cavani's 1.4 dribbles per game in Serie A. Huntelaar is a big player though and excels at scoring with his head, left or right foot so he’d be an effective target man for Chelsea. Surely Rafa Benitez and the board will have him on their list as a good and cheaper alternative - even though Chelsea haven't been scared to spend big in the past - in case they don’t get their main targets. Would he be first choice at a club like Chelsea? Surely not, especially if the club keep Torres on but at least they'd have Huntelaar there in case of any injuries or suspensions. He'd be a very good back up at any club but would he leave Schalke right now, where he is first choice, to rot on a bench under a manager who brought the best out of Torres and could have just been appointed to revive his faltering career? He’s also nearing his 30th birthday so will he be a viable option at all for Chelsea? He is also struggling to score as many goals as he did last season, he's only scored 5 times this season in the Bundesliga, which is poor supposing he scored over 30 goals in all competitions last year. Atleticos’ Falcao is a classy finisher; he makes good runs into space to give his team mates the opportunity to create a chance for him with a cross/through ball that they regularly look to provide him with. His movement is smart, in fact very smart, he always gets into goal scoring positions and rarely misses, be it with his head or his either foot which Chelsea fans wish they could have seen Torres do far more often. Falcao isn't as slow as Huntelaar but really isn't the sort of player you want coming out deep with his back to goal as he’s pretty ineffective there as he’s got to make a defender or midfielder give him a view of the goal. If you were a coach you'd prefer to see Falcao making movement off the ball to open up the chance to be found with a pass or cross so he can get a clear shot rather than coming deep for the ball to link the play up. He’s not useless coming deep to get the ball as he’s a decent enough dribbler but he’s the sort of player you want closer to the opponents goal as when the targets in sight, he rarely misses, which the 17 goals in La Liga so far proves. Falcao has an incredible conversion rate of 36.2%, which is superior to Chelsea's current number 9's 21.4 % conversation rate and many other top strikers in Europe. When Atletico bought him for they did put themselves in a bit of a financial conundrum. Atletico were struggling to pay debts and apparently signed Falcao with money they didn't have but if they are to sell him in Janaury - which apparently they have agreed to more or less as there is strong rumors Falcao will move to Chelsea - they will look to recoup a profit as they aren't getting money from the Europa League due to the Financial fair play rules that have been introduced. Both Real Madrid and Barcelona are interested in him but apparently he said if he moved to Real Madrid that he would fear for his families’ safety due to the rivalry between Atletico and Real. Barcelona also prefers to promote youth players if they can rather than buy for high inflated prices as they have done before. Manchester City also has a strong interest in him as do Chelsea, so if a move was on the cards it would be between those two clubs due to their financial muscle. City’s strike force already is incredible though, it contains Sergio Aguero, former of Atletico Madrid himself, Italian international Mario Balotelli (who boss Roberto Mancini seems to be running out of patience with), Argentine Carlos Tevez and the Bosnian Edin Dzeko. An impressive group of strikers, unlike Chelsea’s thread bear strike force which only contains Spaniard Fernando Torres and rookie Daniel Sturridge. Surely a move to the Bridge would appeal to Falcao as he’d realistically have much more of a chance to play there than at Man City. He also has his peak years ahead of him which will make him a much more attractive option than Huntelaar to Chelsea or City if they decide to bid for him. Ideally, Napoli's Uruguayan Edinson Cavani would suit the role better, as he possesses pace, strength, good ability to keep the ball when under pressure due to impressive close control and effective link up the play like Torres (he’s created 15 chances this season, 14 key passes and 1 assist but Chelsea’s current number 9 has created 18 chances, 17 key passes and 1 assist). Cavani also has a great shot from distance and has scored screamers from outside the box so he'd always be a threat picking the ball up with his back to goal, turning a defender and then unleashing a shot, which you can’t really say the same about Falcao or Huntelaar. He’s also able to play as a winger, not just down the middle so he offers variation as he has the pace and skill to get beyond people and make things happen for his team. He possesses a superior conversation rate to Torres (22.6%) scoring 12 goals from 61 shots so far in Serie A, showing he isn't shy to shoot unlike Torres who seems to be scared of the goal. One problem is that Napoli's chairman has repeatedly stated that Cavani would not be sold cheaply no matter what, so any potential suitors could be forced to pay an extravagant fee, maybe in the bracket of 40-50 million euros, maybe more. Manchester City have also been linked with Cavani for a few seasons and they would provide heavy competition for him despite having an extremely talented strike force already, also Arsenal and Liverpool hold an interest in him but they aren't in the same financial league as City or Chelsea so they would probably struggle to meet Napoli's high demands. Cavani is only 25 so even though he has an incredible goal scoring record already surely he’d only improve even more so he would also be more appealing than Huntelaar not just due to his outstanding all round ability but also his age and potential resale value if Chelsea ever decided to sell him. Whether Chelsea will make a move for any of these strikers it remains to be seen. There are also other strikers linked with the London based club. Vitesse’s strong and powerful in form Ivorian striker Wilfried Bony is apparently a target due to his impressive form in Holland, scoring 16 goals in 17 games, putting Vitesse in 4th place. Also Borussia Dortmund’s star striker Robert Lewandowski, who has scored 10 goals in 16 games in the Bundesliga so far this season, is believed to be a target due to his impressive overall play and goal record at the German club. Also Barcelona’s David Villa is a target for a lot of teams due to his unhappiness at not being used by Tito Vilonova, he has scored goals through out his whole career and would also be a brilliant option if he can recreate such form that made him the best striker on the planet at one point. Hes about to be 31 though which would make him a stop gap option more than anything else at a club like Chelsea, as they seem to be looking towards the future with such signings like Eden Hazard, Oscar, Victor Moses, Cesar Azpilicueta, Thibaut Courtois, Romelu Lukaku and Juan Mata.
