Chelsea are showing a ‘strong interest’ in signing prolific Brazilian centre-forward Igor Thiago from Brentford next summer, according to TEAMtalk.
The Brazilian striker has taken the Premier League by storm since arriving at the Gtech Community Stadium in 2024.
Following a prolific 2023-24 campaign for Club Brugge, where he scored 29 goals and provided six assists in all competitions, Thiago joined Brentford in a club-record deal but did not arrive until the following season.
While things did not go to plan in his first campaign with just eight appearances, the 24-year-old has proven why the Bees spent big money to sign him with 18 Premier League goals and only four behind top scorer Erling Haaland.
In all competitions, his overall tally this season has risen to 22 goal contributions in 31 games, placing him in fourth place in the race for the European Golden Shoe behind Haaland, Harry Kane, and Kylian Mbappé.
One noticeable difference in that list is that the other forwards are playing for Champions League-chasing clubs, making a possible departure an ideal scenario for Thiago, with several clubs now keen.
Now, according to TEAMtalk, Chelsea are looking to reinforce their attack with a prolific centre-forward and are now showing ‘strong interest’ in Thiago.
Having previously tracked and internally discussed the 24-year-old before his move to Brentford, the report adds that the Blues are already well familiar with his qualities and have now firmly placed him on their radar as they look to sign a new striker next summer.
Prolific forward
However, the world champions are not alone in the race, as Manchester City and Bayern Munich have done extensive checks on the 6ft 3in centre-forward as a potential successor in case any of their current options depart, TEAMtalk adds.
Chelsea already has numerous attacking options, with more reinforcements due to arrive next season.
Deals have been agreed for Emanuel Emegha and Dastan Satpaev to join in the summer. Meanwhile, João Pedro, Liam Delap, Marc Guiu, and academy prospect Ryan Kavuma-McQueen are available options for Liam Rosenior.
However, aside from João Pedro, none of the Blues’ available options possesses Thiago’s prolific goalscoring ability, which could give the manager a viable outlet to implement his favoured system of playing with two centre-forwards, as seen during his time at Strasbourg.
Having recently signed a contract extension, Brentford would be reluctant to retain him unless the Blues submit a significant offer well above his £43m Transfermarkt valuation.
