Chelsea 'scouting AZ Alkmaar's Vangelis Pavlidis'

Despite adding Nicolas Jackson, Deivid Washington and Christopher Nkunku - who has only just recovered from a serious knee injury - to their ranks this summer, the Blues will be in the market for a new marksman in the winter window.

Brentford's Ivan Toney is believed to have been earmarked as one Chelsea's top attacking targets, but Arsenal are ready to provide stiff competition for a player who is valued at £100m by the Blues' West London rivals.

A move for Victor Osimhen is seemingly dead in the water for the time being given the Nigerian's new Napoli contract, forcing Chelsea to scope out alternative targets to reinforce their forward line.

According to Greek outlet Sport 24, the Blues have now turned their attention to AZ's Pavlidis, and a Chelsea scout was recently in attendance to watch the 25-year-old in action.

Pavlidis learned his trade in Germany with the Bochum and Borussia Dortmund academy teams before switching to Dutch football, signing up to the Willem II academy and then joining AZ in 2021.

The Alkmaar outfit forked out a mere €2.5m (£2.2m) to add Pavlidis to their ranks two years ago, and he has proven to be a worthwhile investment with 69 goals and 24 assists in 118 matches.

After scoring five goals in the 2022-23 Europa Conference League proper, helping AZ reach the semi-finals, and he currently leads the way with Feyenoord's Santiago Gimenez in the Eredivisie Golden Boot race, netting 18 goals in 16 matches.

The 6'1 striker has already won two Eredivisie Player of the Month awards in the current campaign and has come up with six goals in 36 appearances for Greece, although he has not registered for his nation since June 2022.

However, the ex-Dortmund youngster will enter the final 18 months of his contract in January, meaning that AZ could be pressured into a sale in the January or 2024 summer window lest they risk losing him on a free transfer in 2025.

As many as 20 scouts are said to have been present for AZ's home clash with PSV Eindhoven on December 17, where the Alkmaar side were thumped 4-0, including representatives from both Fulham and Chelsea.

Italian giants AC Milan apparently tried and failed to prise Pavlidis away from AZ with an offer of €15m (£13m) in the summer, and the Dutch side will demand at least €25m (£21.7m) to consider a sale in January.

However, AZ cannot play hardball for very long, as the report states that Pavlidis will not be renewing his contract under any circumstances, giving rise to a sale at some point in the coming months.

Chelsea return to Premier League action at home to London rivals Crystal Palace on Wednesday evening aiming to bounce back from their painful 2-1 loss to Wolverhampton Wanderers on Christmas Eve.