Chelsea urged to sign their own Zlatan Ibrahimovic from Premier League rivals

Chelsea have been urged to sign their own Zlatan Ibrahimovic this summer. Former Blues defender Frank Leboeuf believes Fulham star Aleksandar Mitrovic would be a top signing by his old club.

Mitrovic scored 14 goals in just 24 Premier League appearances for Fulham this season. He missed a number of matches through suspension after he was slapped with an eight-game ban for pushing a referee in the FA Cup defeat to Manchester United.

Chelsea’s top scorers in all competitions were Kai Havertz and Raheem Sterling, who both only scored nine each. Christopher Nkunku is set to arrive from RB Leipzig this summer to bolster their attacking options, while Romelu Lukaku will return from his loan at Inter Milan. But Leboeuf believes further recruitment is needed and reckons Mitrovic is the answer. He can see similarities with the great Sweden striker Ibrahimovic.

Writing in his column for Si & Dan Talk Chelsea, Leboeuf said: “We need a striker, and I think we need someone like Aleksandar Mitrovic from Fulham would work. Mitrovic has the real mentality, he would move the dressing room.

“I think Mitrovic has a similar personality to Zlatan Ibrahimovic, he can be that type of guy, he has the mentality of winner. I like soldiers. Those guys never blink, they never let go, they always face up to it. I love it. He’s done very well for Fulham and he wouldn’t need to move that far away to join Chelsea!”

Mauricio Pochettino does not officially start in his role as Chelsea boss until July 1. However, his work has already begun on making decisions on several players’ futures. One player expected to leave is Mateo Kovacic, with Manchester City closing in on a move. However, Leboeuf can’t understand why he would move to the Etihad.

He added: “If he goes to City, where is he going to play? Is he going to start over Rodri for example? No, I don’t think so. Do you want to play 20 games a season at City, or go to another team playing 50 games a season? I’ll be sad to see him leave.

“When he came from Real Madrid he wasn’t the player that he developed into at Chelsea a few years after. I have enjoyed seeing him play for Chelsea though, I think he fought for the club. But the club has to reduce the squad and that is the process of it and you have to be ready to lose good players.”