Former Liverpool and Manchester United striker Michael Owen believes Chelsea don't have the strikers required to challenge for the Premier League title.
The Blues strengthened significantly in the summer, spending more than £200million in all and the best part of £50million on forward Timo Werner.
But that hasn't seen them become title contenders, replacing Frank Lampard with Thomas Tuchel after a disappointing start to the season.
Chelsea may not make a realistic challenge for the title this season, but given the level of investment last summer and the expectation they will spend again ahead of next season, the title will be something they aim for next term.
But according to former frontman Owen, Chelsea don't have the frontmen required for a title challenge just yet.
“I’ve never felt comfortable with Chelsea’s main centre forwards since Drogba probably,” Owen told Premier League Productions.
“I only say that when I’m talking: ‘Are Chelsea going to win the league? Are they real contenders?’ Of course, they’re brilliant players – Giroud’s won the World Cup for goodness sake and is a brilliant player.
“But to win the Premier League you need one of the best strikers in the world and I don’t think Abraham or Giroud are in the top 10 strikers in the world.
“It’s a department that a lot of managers have tried."
He added: "Even Werner – they keep trying to buy bigger, better strikers. I just don’t think they’ve got it right since and they’ve spent fortunes.
“You mentioned Diego Costa, they bought Fernando Torres at the top of his game, (Alvaro) Morata they spent big money on. They know there’s a problem.
“They get by – it’s not glaringly obvious but if they want to win the league [they must sign a top centre-forward].”
Owen's comments come amid links to Borussia Dortmund Erling Haaland ahead of this season with Chelsea tipped to spent around £100million to fix their striker issues this summer.
