The imminent arrival of Senegalese striker Demba Ba will cover the void left by former Chelsea hit man Didier Drogba who left Chelsea to trade his football in China at the end of last season.
The imminent arrival of Senegalese striker Demba Ba will cover the void left by former Chelsea hit man Didier Drogba who left Chelsea to trade his football in China at the end of last season.The European champions have completed the signing of Newcastle striker BA after a release clause was triggered in his Newcastle contract once Chelsea offered £7million.The Senegalese international who was born in France, scored 16 goals during his first full season debut at St. James Park. He helped the club finish fifth and qualified for the Europa League. Before his move to Chelsea, Ba has been Newcastle’s top scorer this season and his departure has left Papiss Cisse and Shola Ameobi as the only senior strikers at the club. The Newcastle duo has scored only nine goals between them during the current campaign whereas BA is the current second top scorer in the Barclays premier league with 13 goals. Ba, who was signed from German Club Hoffenheim two years ago, has become one of the most feared strikers in the Premier League and has made a big impact at St. James Park.Chelsea does not have to worry about the striker missing during the AFCON n South Africa this month because Senegal did not qualify. The Blues Premier League title race has been hampered by the lack of consistency this season.Chelsea currently are in fourth position but with 15-points behind leaders Manchester United, and seven points behind second placed Manchester City.Based on these statistics, the blues have a very big mountain to climb if they are to catch and grab top spot from the Red Devils.One of the most outstanding challenges for Rafa Benitez is the lack of goals. The Stanford Bridge side has been reliant on Fernando Torres as their main goal scorer this season yet the Spanish striker has failed to resurrect his form. Their mid-week poor show against bottom club QPR showed the extent of the Blues urgent need for Ba services.Against QPR, the Blues were slow, disjointed and severely lacking in the kind of cutting edge and this is what Ba will bring at Chelsea.QPR played in a kind of system that has hurt the Blues in very crucial games and this is what got Roberto Di Matteo the sack against Juventus.QPR used Moroccan talent Adel Taarabt to distract Chelsea midfield dynamos and eventually frustrated their opponents successfully that forced Branislav Ivanovic to resort to wild shots from distance.After the interval Chelsea upped the pace, and seemed as if QPR had resorted to settling for at least a point. However, QPR benefited from a combination of poor finishing from the Blues and good goalkeeping by Julio Ceasar to search for the winning goal and got one through former Chelsea winger Shaun Wright-Phillips.