Chelsea don’t need a striker in January window – Pochettino،
Mauricio Pochettino has played down suggestions Chelsea need to sign a striker in January and steered the club away from speculation over the transfer of Brighton striker Evan Ferguson.
Chelsea have struggled to score goals all season and were once again without Christopher Nkunku and Nicolas Jackson for Saturday's 1-0 win over Fulham at Stamford Bridge.
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Pochettino said on Friday that “we will see the situation” after admitting his concern over Nkunku's latest fitness problem.
The £52 million summer acquisition from RB Leipzig made just four appearances for the club after suffering a serious knee injury during pre-season.
Sources have told ESPN that Chelsea are interested in Napoli's Victor Osimhen and Brentford's Ivan Toney, but both deals are considered extremely difficult to complete this month.
Feyenoord's Santiago Giménez is another possible option, but when asked specifically about his interest in Ferguson, Pochettino replied: “No, I think you know very well that I don't talk about rumours. I will never talk about players who are in another club. “I’m so respectful. No, we are not talking. We are evaluating the team and if something happens we will communicate but at the moment we have not made any decision.
“I never said we needed a center forward. No, because after that we create a problem, me with my people. I never said that. I didn't say yesterday during my press conference that we needed [a striker].
“I said we are working like another club, trying to evaluate and see the market, all the different situations that can arise. The most important thing is that this club is ready to act and in one direction or another , but I never said we had to add another player to the team.
Cole Palmer's penalty in first-half stoppage time was enough to give Chelsea a narrow victory over Fulham, whose last away victory against their London rivals came in 1979.
Pochettino revealed preparations had been disrupted by an incident before kick-off but refused to divulge details.
“The first half was not what we expected,” he said. “Something happened before the match but I can’t explain it, it affected the team a bit.”
Asked to elaborate, Pochettino replied: “No, no, no, nothing, nothing. It was nothing. It's nothing big, small details sometimes affect the team and you just need to know that something has affected the performance, in my opinion, but that's not important for you and our fans to know. Sorry, sorry.”
During the match, a PR stunt took place a few meters behind Pochettino's dugout, during which seven men in matching suits stood up at different times during the first half to promote a film produced by a company linked to Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly, who also attended Saturday's game.
Pochettino insisted it was not a problem. “I knew about it,” he said. “It didn't affect the show. For me, it's welcome. It's part of the show. It didn't affect the professionals, the players or us doing our job.
“It was nice for the fans to see the promotion of the film. The movie 'Argylle' looks very good. It looks very, very good. Maybe they will invite me for the premiere. “
