With three crucial strikes in his last three starts, Samuel Eto’o is providing Chelsea with the finishing touch they need.

When Samuel Eto’o signed for Chelsea in August last year, his purchase was met with scepticism in light of the club’s failed attempt to sign Wayne Rooney, whom Jose Mourinho deemed to fit the bill of a world-class striker. Eto’o’s purchase reeked of an unpredictable stopgap experiment, whose success would depend on how much Mourinho could extract from a Fernando Torres who had not (and still hasn’t) shown he could be relied upon to score regularly. Eto’o’s match fitness and desire were in question – after all, it wasn’t his desire to play in the Russian Premier League that saw him move to Anzhi Makhachkala; and he looked completely off the boil in his first few games for the Blues.

In between his woeful debut against Everton on September 14 of last year and the recent match against Tottenham on March 9 this year – a span of almost 6 months; Eto’o proved handy with important strikes against Cardiff, Liverpool and Manchester United, but no more than that. Rotating the lone striker position with the hard-working, industrious but hardly prolific Torres enabled Mourinho to extract enough from his two main centre forwards to have Chelsea strongly in contention for the Premier League title.

John Obi Mikel, speaking after Eto’o’s debut against Everton said “I think someone like Eto’o, who is well experienced and has played in so many leagues, won’t take very long [to adapt].” However, Mikel also said that “Chelsea was my first real professional club and it took me six months to a year to adapt.” It has now been longer than six months since Eto’o’s forgettable debut but in the last few weeks there are suggestions that the Eto’o experiment might be beginning to bear real fruit, possibly enough to propel a very efficient Chelsea team to premature Premier League glory.

What has been notable about Eto’o’s recent form is that he has scored the opening goal in his last three starts in extremely crucial games. It has also been the way he has taken his goals.

It was his awareness to intercept Jan Vertonghen’s blind back pass and finish coolly against top four challengers Tottenham that put Chelsea 1-0 up. It was his ability to get in behind the Galatasaray back four and finish clinically across Fernando Muslera that depressurised what was meant to be a dangerous Champions League second leg. And it was his calmness to cut back inside Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to unleash a classy left foot curler which started the rout against title contenders Arsenal at the weekend.

Eto’o has thus begun to more regularly look in possession of something that Torres, for all his hard work and team oriented play, does not – killer instinct, and in big games.

The value of the Eto’o experiment can be seen in that, in the absence of a striker who scores for fun, Eto’o is still decisive enough to maximise his goal scoring chances in a team that boasts a plethora of creative attacking midfielders and the ability to defend a lead. Eto’o’s statistics are starting to support this notion to. Bearing in mind much of the season was spent acclimatising, eight goals and two assists in 19 EPL games (15 starts), shows he has still managed roughly a goal or assist every second game.

While not stats to set the world on fire, if his recent spike in form continues until the end of the season, these stats will improve and Eto’o could provide the consistency of output up front that Chelsea have so far lacked (Torres averages a goal or assist just under every three games). This is because Eto’o’s most recent form hints that he is combining his efficiency in front of goal with better regularity. So if he can be relied upon to continue taking his goal scoring chances, and Chelsea maintain their status as the Premier League’s meanest defence (at time of publication), the stopgap experiment could produce simple, but effective results.

Unfortunately for Chelsea, after suffering a hamstring injury and being subbed off against Arsenal inside ten minutes, Eto’o is likely to miss a fortnight. However, if Torres can fill in the blanks as he has mostly done this season and Eto’o can continue in the same vein upon return, he may just be the striker capable enough of firing Chelsea to the title.