Why Antoine Griezmann Would Be a Dream Summer Transfer Target for Chelsea
If we were playing fantasy football, we wouldn't have to look beyond Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as dream transfers for Chelsea this summer.
Indeed, for the Premier League champions or any team.
Such are their talents, every club in world football would move mountains if they had any chance of snapping up Messi and Ronaldo.
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But they don't. We live in the real world, and as exciting as it sounds, daydreaming about unrequited lust doesn't get a team anywhere.
Chasing real targets does, however.
Chelsea proved that much last season, acting quickly in the transfer market to bring Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas to Stamford Bridge. Those two players helped transform Jose Mourinho's side from Premier League also-rans into the champions they are.
Chelsea walked their way to the title. They led the table from the first weekend to the last, and despite a brief wobble, they did enough to seal a 13-point swing to wrestle the trophy from Manchester City.
Now they must ensure they conduct their business just as efficiently again if they are to prevent the same happening to them.
City, Arsenal and Manchester United may have been no match for Chelsea in 2014/15, but as we consider the next 12 months, it would be folly to suggest they won't at least try to be better.
Mourinho's Chelsea are strong, but they could be stronger.
Last season, they lacked a prolific striker outside of Costa, and it's an area of his squad that Mourinho needs to address.
It seems he has, with the Telegraph's Jason Burt reporting that Falcao is set to sign any day now.
Chelsea need a productive No. 10, if not at least to ease the burden on Oscar, who continues to struggle to go the distance and perform for a full season.
There would be an argument to suggest Oscar being sold altogether if Chelsea could land Antoine Griezmann.
Atletico Madrid's French star is the ideal player Chelsea are looking for right now. In a squad with few holes, Griezmann represents an upgrade on what Mourinho has at his disposal.
The Chelsea manager appears set to replace Didier Drogba with Falcao in a bid to get his team scoring more—the idea being that he is a calculated risk given how prolific the frontman has been wherever he has played, with United as the exception, of course.
Mourinho needs players from across the pitch to be scoring goals, though.
When Chelsea lifted the title, the 20 strikes Costa had to his name were a significant reason why. Equally, so too were the 14 Eden Hazard bagged.
Chelsea's remit in 2015/16 is about so much more than retaining the Premier League trophy. They need to successfully navigate uncharted waters under Mourinho—they need to win the UEFA Champions League.
When Chelsea lifted the European Cup in 2012, the consensus was they had done it in the one season when they deserved it the least.
It wasn't a view born out a lack of effort or character from the players, but more the fact that Chelsea weren't the best team on the continent in the same way they had been before.
Too many times, they had come close but failed. When Chelsea had a team and manager not totally prepared for it, they did the unimaginable to become kings of Europe.
As phenomenal as that night was for Chelsea, it covered up the cracks. When it comes to Europe, they've been underachieving. Domestic success is one thing. Sustaining it on the continent is quite another.
Whether it be near-misses, managerial changes or penalty shootouts, Chelsea haven't been the force they should have been in the Champions League.
Mourinho's done half the job with Chelsea since his return by making them great in England again, but now he needs to up the ante. He needs to deliver in Europe as he never has with Chelsea. There have been three semi-finals, but never a final for The Special One.
To change that, he needs players of Griezmann's ilk—proven talents who can produce on the biggest occasions and give Chelsea that impetus they need.
Chelsea aren't going to be winning European titles with players who can last only six months of a 10-month campaign. And they aren't going to do it by relying on two players to score all their goals.
In fact, Costa didn't find the back of the net once for Chelsea in Europe last season, and look at how that turned out.
When it came down to it, Chelsea lacked the edge required and paid the ultimate price against Paris Saint-Germain. When the opportunity presented itself, they couldn't go for the jugular.
We can point to the fact that PSG didn't technically beat Chelsea, drawing both games, yet they did enough to progress into the quarter-final where Barcelona ripped them apart.
A Mourinho team isn't going to play with the same effervescence we see from the likes of Barca. Nor should they have to, either. Every side will play to their strengths, as Mourinho's have regularly done throughout his career.
They've often had that spark to turn defensive dominance into goals, however.
In his first spell at Stamford Bridge, it was Didier Drogba, Arjen Robben, Damien Duff and Frank Lampard who were the attacking threats, complementing the more pragmatic attributes of John Terry and Claude Makelele.
It's not that Chelsea lack punch now—they just don't have enough of it. Outside Costa and Hazard, they're missing goalscorers.
Griezmann is exactly that.
His debut campaign at the Vicente Calderon Stadium killed any notion that his form at Real Sociedad was that of a player who couldn't cut it at the highest level. He scored a combined 30 goals in the two seasons ahead of his move to Atletico, with 24 following last term.
Griezmann is a real threat, a player able to operate behind the striker and cause real damage on the counter.
He's what Chelsea are looking for, a player who is capable of helping to combat the flaws in this team.
The stats whet the appetite, as does his £43 million release clause, according to Law. That alone makes Griezmann attainable, and not at a premium.
Chelsea have played the transfer market well in more recent times, and Griezmann presents another opportunity to flex their financial muscle to help bring the rewards the club craves.
Mourinho says creating a dynasty is his ambition at Chelsea. It's players like Griezmann who would help realise that.
Garry Hayes is Bleacher Report's lead Chelsea correspondent. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter @garryhayes.
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