Why Robert Lewandowski over Jamie Vardy would be a good fit for Chelsea

Jamie Vardy has been at Leicester city for a few seasons now and is the prime example to prove to the world that if you put your mind to it, human beings are capable of anything. Around 11 years ago, when Jamie Vardy was still only 20, he began his professional career playing for a side most of us have probably never heard of – The Stocksbridge Park Steels.

A small team based out of Sheffield, they ply their trade in the Division one South wing of the Northern Premier League – the 8^th tier of English football.

Robert Lewandowski, on the other hand, was starring for a top club in the Polish first division when he was still 20. He played as a striker for Lech Poznan. who finished 3^rd in the Ekstraklasa that season. They also qualified for the Europa League. With 14 goals, Lewandowski was also his team’s top scorer that season.

The gulf in the way these two have developed as players is quite unimaginable. Lewandowski was always touted to be a star for his country but Jamie Vardy really came into the limelight through sheer perseverance and a little bit of luck.

Chelsea have always found it difficult to acquire the right strikers. It can be argued that since the Didier Drogba signing all those years ago, they are yet to make a successful striker purchase. Fernando Torres, Diego Costa and more recently, Alvaro Morata have all fallen well beyond the expectations of Chelsea fans.

Here’s a look at how Jamie Vardy and Robert Lewandowski, two completely different strikers performed as attacking forces last season.

	Vardy	Lewandowski
Apps	37	24(6)
Goals	20	29
Shots/Game	1.9	4.2
Assists	1	2
Key Passes/Game	0.9	0.7
Dribbles/game	0.6	0.6
Dispossessed/Game	0.4	1

Certain trends can be identified from the attacking statistics table showcased above. Jamie Vardy, while being a top striker, also doubles as a playmaker for his team Leicester city, which is clarified by the key passes stat. At 0.9 key passes per game, Vardy effectively creates one goalscoring chance per game for his teammates.

Lewandowski, on the other hand, is an out and out striker who is often used as a target man, which is seen in the shots-per-game stat. Averaging over 4 shots a game, his conversion rate is extremely high, having scored 29 goals in just 24 starts.

With the current crop of players available to Chelsea, the main requirement for Chelsea is not a playmaker but simply a goal-scorer. And to that note, Lewandowski is the better fit for Chelsea.