3 Romelu Lukaku v Alvaro Morata: What do the stats say?

Chelsea have set aside £70 million to sign a centre forward this summer, and there are two targets who are being lined up by the Blues.

Romelu Lukaku of Everton is preferred by technical director Michael Emenalo, while head coach Antonio Conte wants to sign Real Madrid’s Alvaro Morata – who he worked with at Juventus.

The Sun report a big-name centre forward is a necessity this summer as doubts remain about the future of Diego Costa, and a decision will be made about who should be brought to Stamford Bridge.

So, which striker would be the best for Chelsea? talkSPORT take a look at the stats and reveal which player the Blues should sign…

Goalscoring

Costa has not scored fewer than 16 goals in a season since his arrival at Chelsea in 2014, and any replacement for the Spaniard needs to at least match that tally.

Lukaku has done just that since leaving Chelsea on loan for West Brom in the 2012/13 season. His lowest tally has been 16, and he has passed the 20-goal mark in each of the last three years.

Morata has struggled to match Costa’s goalscoring feats, having not once passed the 16-goal mark since establishing himself at Real in 2013/14; his highest tally was 15 with Juventus the following season.

For Chelsea, Lukaku’s Premier League goals count for more than Morata’s LaLiga and Serie A strikes, though the Spaniard is a proven scorer in the Champions League.

Creativity

Costa has made it evident the role of goalscorer has changed at Stamford Bridge, as creativity is just as important as finishing ability.

Since making his Chelsea debut in 2014 Costa has created 21 goals; in the same time frame Lukaku has also managed 21 and Morata has registered 23 assists.

Impressively, Morata has more assists despite playing fewer minutes than Lukaku, and has averaged fewer key passes per season than the Belgian, suggesting he is more calculated and precise with his passing.

Hold up play

As well as creative abilities, Chelsea’s striker needs to be able to hold up the ball and create space for himself at a world class level.

Costa is one of the best in the world at leading the line, being both a successful dribbler and a prime target for fouls.

He has averaged 1.7 dribbles per game since arriving at Chelsea, with Lukaku comparing favourably in relation to Morata over the same time frame; 1.5 per game to 1.01 per game.

In terms of fouled per game stat, Morata (1.4) shines brightest compared to Costa (1.9), with Lukaku coming nowhere near those high numbers (0.8).

Defensive work

Costa has established himself as one of the hardest working forwards in world football, whilst Lukaku has often been criticised for his work rate.

Defensive work is vitally important for the attacker in Conte’s team, and Lukaku fails to match up compared with Costa or Morata.

Based on defensive actions per game, the Spain striker (0.4) is more similar to Costa (0.5) than Lukaku (0.3)

Result

Losing Costa would be a huge blow for Chelsea, as neither Lukaku nor Morata can emulate his excellence as an all-round footballer.

Both excel at different parts of the game, with the Belgian a prolific goalscorer and Morata more adept at bringing his teammates into play.

But Chelsea want to sign a striker to fire them to Premier League and European glory, and Morata can not match Lukaku in terms of his class in front of goal.

The Spaniard’s defensive work and hold up play is what makes him stand out, but he is not actually that much better at that side of the game than Lukaku – certainly not better enough to prioritise signing Morata over a pure goalscorer.