Chelsea have seemingly stepped up the pace in their pursuit to land another new frontman for the 2023-24 season and beyond.
With Joao Felix returning to parent club Atletico Madrid and Kai Havertz being strongly linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge, the need for a new attacker is now even more apparent.
What is Dusan Vlahovic's contract situation at Juventus?
There are no shortage of players out there that could help Chelsea improve on a pretty poor return of 38 goals scored in 38 Premier League games last season.
However, some of those are either wanted by countless other clubs, valued at an unrealistic sum or indeed both of those in the case of supposed top target Victor Osimhen.
In what could be a hugely promising development for Chelsea, though, Gazzetta dello Sport claims the Blues have already tabled an offer for Dusan Vlahovic, which Juventus' hierarchy are now studying.
The Italian outlet suggests the offer will have to be at least €80m (£69m) to land Vlahovic, who only joined Juventus from Fiorentina in a €70m (£60m) deal 17 months ago and still has three years to run on his contract.
Where will Dusan Vlahovic fit in at Chelsea?
It must be remembered in all this that Chelsea reportedly have a deal already locked in with RB Leipzig to sign talented forward Christopher Nkunku, which is expected to be made official next week.
Given just how poor Chelsea were in the final third last season, another new arrival would not go amiss. In Serbia international Vlahovic, who was described as "a beast" by football reporter Siavoush Fallahi last season, the Blues could sign Nkunku's ideal partner.
Rather excitingly for Chelsea supporters, FBref's player comparison tool likens Vlahovic's statistical profile to that of Manchester City star Erling Haaland, who is undoubtedly the leading striker in world football today.
Vlahovic has a non-penalty expected goals (xG) return of 0.43 per 90 minutes over the past year, which ranks him in the top 18% of all his positional peers across Europe's top five leagues.
That may not put him on a par with the ruthless Haaland (0.80 non-penalty xG), but it puts him above Havertz (0.38), Raheem Sterling (0.29) and Mykhailo Mudryk (0.25) among Chelsea players, with only Joao Felix (0.47) fairing better than Vlahovic in that regard last season, though the Portuguese will not be at Stamford Bridge next season.
Vlahovic is also a player who is happy to get shots away, as reflected by his 3.04 attempts per 90 minutes in Serie A last season. For comparison, among the players still available to Chelsea, the unheralded Datro Fofana ranked highest with 3.75.
Shooting does not necessarily equate to goals, of course, but the Serbian scored 0.47 goals per 90 minutes last season – no Chelsea player managed higher than 0.4, with Joao Felix – again – top of the list with (0.38).
Last season does not give a true reflection of Vlahovic's quality, though, with his goals per 90 minutes dropping from 0.58 the year before and a high of 0.83 during the final part of his Fiorentina spell.
That may suggest on the face of it that Vlahovic is on the way down, but still aged just 23, it is more likely that the Partizan youth product can thrive in a different system and with a higher quality of player around him – and Chelsea are certainly not lacking in talented midfielders to provide support.
If Nkunku – who contributed to 32 goals last term – is to be Chelsea's marquee summer signing, then Vlahovic could well be the gamble that is worth taking if Mauricio Pochettino is to have a shot of success at Stamford Bridge. Indeed, a pairing of two such ruthless attackers would be a mighty fine treat for the Argentine.