Chelsea 'to open talks over possible £20m deal for Freiburg forward Waldschmidt'

Chelsea is set to make a move for highly-rated German striker Luca Waldschmidt this summer, with a £20million move on the cards.

The Freiburg forward has scored five Bundesliga goals this season having missed two months with a knee injury, while he has been capped twice by the senior national team.

Those appearances follow a breakthrough tournament last summer at the European Under-21 Championship in Italy and Blues boss Frank Lampard could bring him to the Premier League, according to The Sun.

The report details that Lampard wants to bring in options in attack, with a number of current players looking likely to leave this summer.

Michy Batshuayi is out-of-favour and is yet to make an impression at Stamford Bridge since his 2016 move from Marseille.

In addition, winger Willian looks set to leave upon the expiration of his contract.

Olivier Giroud, who was Chelsea's main striker before the season was paused due to the coronavirus crisis, also tried to push through a January move away.

Waldschmidt impressed Germany manager Joachim Low at last summer's Under-21 tournament, scoring seven goals in four games.

Such was his record that locals reportedly started nicknaming him 'Il Bomber', in a reference to West Germany icon Gerd Muller, whose nickname was 'Der Bomber.'

Overall, he has scored 15 goals in 48 appearances for Freiburg since moving to the club from Hamburg in 2018.