Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino will have limited influence on the club's transfer activity this January, with co-sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart taking the lead on recruitment. The Blues have already spent over £1billion in the last three transfer windows, but they are still looking to add an “elite” striker to their squad.

Pochettino will have “an input” on the transfer process, but he will not be able to veto any signings by Winstanley and Stewart. Chelsea have recently been linked with several strikers, including Inter Milan's Lautaro Martinez, RB Leipzig's Benjamin Sesko, Brighton's Evan Ferguson, and Bayer Leverkusen's Victor Boniface.

However, they may have to settle for a more versatile forward instead, as the demand for top-quality strikers is outstripping the supply. Chelsea are also set to welcome Christopher Nkunku back from injury for the second half of the season.

According to the reports from the Sun, transfer insider David Ornstein wrote for The Athletic: “Lautaro Martinez, Benjamin Sesko, Evan Ferguson, and Victor Boniface are mentioned to me a lot by people who work in recruitment.

“The demand continues to outstrip the supply. It’s not absolutely guaranteed that clubs such as Chelsea end up signing a pure No 9… Maybe they instead go for a more flexible forward who can contribute to goals. Chelsea also have Christopher Nkunku returning, although they will probably lose Nicolas Jackson to the AFCON.”

“Their recruitment will be led by co-sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart, with support from the owners. My understanding is that Mauricio Pochettino will have an input, but that’s about it; no veto, increased power, or anything like that.”

“Chelsea want him to focus on coaching the team, and despite some of their results so far this season, I think he’s showing promising signs and will do a really good job. There is a very good chance they will recruit somebody in attack this January. If it’s going to be a No9, the idea would be for it to be an elite one because they already have Jackson and Armando Broja, who will continue to develop. They need more potency up front to start scoring more goals, so you can understand why they’re looking to the market.”

It remains to be seen who Chelsea will ultimately sign in January, but it is clear that they are determined to strengthen their attack.