Chelsea urged to beat Man City to £150m 'next Harry Kane'

Chelsea legend Pat Nevin has urged the club to make a blockbuster transfer move for Brighton striker Evan Ferguson this summer, believing that the 19-year-old is the perfect man to slot into Mauricio Pochettino's system.

The Blues have been inconsistent under the Argentine this season but are finishing the Premier League season in fine form. Chelsea have only lost one league game since early February and recent 5-0 and 6-0 wins over West Ham and Everton have been head-turning.

The London outfit are now rampaging towards the European spots, piling pressure on Newcastle United, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur. Looking ahead to next season, Nevin has singled out the one player the club should sign ahead of Victor Osimhen, Ivan Toney and Viktor Gyökeres.

The Scotland international told OLBG: "Chelsea really need a simple finisher. Someone who has good numbers when the ball goes into the box. 

"There are plenty of other teams that would be looking for that type of player too. I'm sure Manchester United are one of them. But like Manchester United, Chelsea are in the same boat, they are big clubs or they have been big clubs, and you need to get back to that level.

"In losing Thiago Silva, Chelsea might open up to the idea of having a more experienced striker. Chelsea always buy young and that’s fine if it pays off in the long term, but I'm absolutely 100% convinced Pochettino wants a little bit more experience in there.

"The future of Ivan Toney has opened up and that could be explored, but that doesn’t mean it’s the right option. He will score goals and he has a cleverness about him, but he’s not what Chelsea generally look at.

"If they go with usual thinking it could be Victor Osimhen or Toney, but if I was Evan Ferguson at Brighton I would be looking at Chelsea at the moment. He’s going to reach his potential by being in a team in which he gets lots of chances and Chelsea are now getting better in being faster in their build-ups.

"I don't think teams are ignoring him even though he’s not scoring as many goals, but no strikers score millions of goals at the start, look at Harry Kane and his early numbers, it takes time. But if you're a striker, you want one thing over and above everything else and that’s getting four or five chances a game. 

"If you can get into a team that's doing that and they are clear-cut chances you'd like to be there. I think he'd be better suited to the current Chelsea side than it would be to say current Manchester United."

Nevin's transfer message to his old club comes after Champions Manchester City had been linked with a big-money move for the teenager last September. iNews reported that Pep Guardiola may be looking to partner the talismanic Erling Haaland with the rising Irish star in a £150 million transfer.

The outlet claimed that City would have to smash the £115 million British transfer record set by Chelsea when signing Moises Caicedo from the Seagulls last summer to bring Ferguson to Manchester given his young age and huge potential. Newcastle United have also been linked with interest in the player this year.

The striker is under contract at Brighton until 2028, which also adds to the lofty price tag being quoted. Speaking about the possibility of Ferguson being sold, Brighton's chief executive Paul Barber previously said: "In Evan’s case, it’ll be in at least five years’ time. The technical staff are making the key decisions on where a player is in his development, whether he needs more first-team games or needs to go on loan or if we need to trade earlier or later.

"Ultimately it’s going to be a collective decision but it’s driven by the technical staff and we’re relying on them to make those judgements regarding the players’ development."