Michael Owen blasts ‘toothless’ Chelsea for splashing cash without signing striker – ‘One of the biggest mysteries’

Chelsea’s inability to sign a goalscorer despite splashing hundreds of millions in the transfer market is “one of the biggest mysteries of all time”, according to Michael Owen.

The Blues have struggled to convert chances throughout the 2022/23 campaign, mustering just 30 goals in 31 Premier League games.

Kai Havertz is their top scorer with nine goals, despite a Blues spending splurge in the summer and winter markets in which they spent around £600 million on new recruits.

They desperately need to find a way to goal on Tuesday when they face Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-finals, as they look to overturn a 2-0 first leg defeat.

Speaking on BT Sport, Owen said: “It’s one of the biggest mysteries of all time – how can you spend £500m and hardly bring a player in who’s going to influence the goalscoring department?

“They look so toothless in front of goal, they don’t look like scoring.

“[Manchester City striker] Erling Haaland has scored four or five more goals than the entire [Chelsea] team this season. It’s incredible for a team like Chelsea to not have someone who is banging them in on a regular basis.

“But tonight it has to be different. I don’t know where they’re going to come from, but they have to come from somewhere.”

Under the new ownership of Todd Boehly this season, Chelsea have had three managers, sacking Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter before re-appointing former boss Frank Lampard earlier this month.

But Rio Ferdinand said decisions off the field contributed to the team ending up in this mess.

“It’s a lack of confidence and that’s before Frank came in the door,” Ferdinand said.

“But also the transfer window and their recruitment, they bought wingers. They’ve got six or seven wingers in this squad and they haven’t got a number nine.”