There is nothing more important than a player consistently capable of scoring goals from midfield - as Chelsea will attest to having been rescued many times by the goalscoring exploits of Frank Lampard over the last decade.
Now the Blues have started a youth revolution, and one player in particular has caught the eye when it comes to scoring goals. Oscar was bought by Chelsea in the summer amid much competition in Europe, and the Brazilian, while taking a while to settle, is now proving to be a little gem of a signing.
Chelsea have almost taken for granted in recent seasons that Lampard will chip in with at least 20 goals in all competitions every year, but now with the prolific midfielder slowing down due to age, the mantle needs to be taken up, and Oscar, who scored 20 goals last season for Internacional, is well up for it.
"I have been a midfielder who is a regular goalscorer and scoring 20 in a season was normal for me," Oscar told the club's official website.
"I know it could be a bit more difficult in England because you are not playing all the time and you play in different positions, but nevertheless I do expect that I am going to score many goals for Chelsea and I hope to keep the average of between 10 to 20 goals a season -- that would be good."
The Brazilian international has chipped in with three goals so far - two of them wonderfully taken long-range efforts, with the other a tap-in from close range in Chelsea's last game against Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League.
"I often try to position myself in the place I was for this last goal against Shakhtar, so that when someone passes the ball I am close enough - -and I do score quite a few like this, but because my more usual position is just outside the box, that is where I score most of my goals from."
Oscar announced his arrival at Stamford Bridge with a couple of spectacular strikes against Juventus in his Champions League debut - the second goal the pick of the lot, and easily the playmaker's favorite. "If you are playing your first game in the Champions League and you score like that, how can you possibly not choose it," he said.
The 21-year-old said the atmosphere in England with the capacity crowds and the constant chanting is quite similar to the one he had previously experienced in his native Brazil. "It is quite similar to Brazil," he added. "You have the same things -- the big crowds and the adrenalin is really unbelievable, you feel it rushing through you.
"I played in a city in Brazil where there are only two big clubs and Internacional versus Gremio was unbelievable -- the pressure, the team atmosphere and everybody flying on the adrenalin.
"The big games against big opponents, those are the best games to play in."
