With Fernando Torres continuing to struggle in a Chelsea shirt, the European champions are being linked with every single major striker in Europe, with Bayern Munich frontman Mario Gomez the latest.
The Blues are already the favorites to seal the signature of perhaps the hottest striker in Europe Radamel Falcao, with Edinson Cavani also a possibility.
However, with the talks of a move for Falcao dying down, reports now suggest Chelsea could make a move for Gomez, who only just made a return from ankle surgery. Gomez has been one of the most prolific strikers in Europe over the last couple of years, topping 30 goals a season comfortably.
The German international is reportedly in danger of losing his starting spot, after Mario Mandzukic, in Gomez's absence, filled in splendidly. The Croatian international has scored 9 goals in 12 games so far for the German giants, and could possibly keep Gomez from making a direct return to the starting XI.
Gomez, however, made his comeback to competitive action this weekend, even scoring just 27 seconds after coming on, in a 5-0 rout of Hannover. Bayern bought Gomez from Stuttgart in 2009 for a massive Bundesliga record fee of £30 million ($48 million), so Chelsea would have to cough up somewhere in the region of the fee they paid for Torres.
Even if the Blues are willing to pay a considerable amount, the chances of Bayern letting go of their prized asset is extremely slim. Gomez is their No. 1 striker, and once he returns to full match fitness, he will be reinstated into their starting lineup.
The German international has also made no mention of his discontent at Bayern, and with the German club one of the richest teams in Europe, they will be under no compulsion to sell.
Rafa Benitez has been named Chelsea's interim manager to bring the best out of Torres, Roman Abramovich's favorite player, and even if he succeeds and the Chelsea faithful finally see the Spaniard in all his glory, the odds of the Blues buying a new striker, if not in January, then definitely in the summer are pretty high.
With Chelsea also linked with a move for another Bayern stalwart Bastian Schweinsteiger in the past, a move for Gomez can certainly not be entirely ruled out, but Falcao looks like a much safer bet.
