There's no rest for the wicked, at least not at Chelsea.

The West Londoners appear to be on something of a warpath this summer, as they put together a squad capable of genuinely competing on all fronts again next season, from the Champions League to the Premier League.

For example, the likes of Liam Delap and Mamadou Sarr were signed prior to the Club World Cup, and then just this afternoon, Joao Pedro's £60m move from Brighton & Hove Albion was confirmed.

It's not just incomings, though, as the Blues could be set to cash in on Noni Madueke, and if reports are to be believed, they've already identified the ideal player to replace him, someone who could be unreal alongside Pedro.

Chelsea target brilliant Madueke upgrade

Chelsea completed the £29m signing of Madueke from PSV Eindhoven in January 2023, and since then, the talented winger has been a useful player to have in and around the first team.

However, it now appears that the Englishman could be on the move this summer, with reports in recent days linking him to London rivals Arsenal.

In fact, Sky Sports Germany's Florian Plettenberg has claimed that the Gunners have already made an offer to the player, while other stories have claimed that the West Londoners could let him go for around £50m.

Interestingly, this could be a brilliant move from the club, as it now looks like they identified another young winger, someone who'd be even better than Madueke: Malick Fofana.

Yes, according to a recent report from the Independent, Chelsea are one of several sides incredibly interested in the Lyon winger.

The report has revealed that, alongside the likes of Liverpool, Nottingham Forest and Arsenal, the Blues have already made contact with the French outfit over the exciting prospect.

Unfortunately, it won't be a cheap transfer to get over the line, as Lyon have reportedly set an asking price of around £52m.

However, as he'd be an upgrade on Madueke and could be incredible alongside Pedro, that might be a fee worth paying for Chelsea.

How Fofana compares to Madueke

So the first thing to address is why we think Fofana could be an upgrade on Madueke, as he's not exactly a household name among most Premier League fans, at least not yet anyway.

The first is his output, as in 41 appearances, totalling just 2280 minutes last season, the "frightening" French phenom, as dubbed by U23 scout Antonio Mango, scored 11 goals and provided six assists.

That comes out to an impressive average of a goal involvement every 2.41 games, or every 134.11 minutes.

In contrast, the Blues' exciting wide man scored as many goals but provided five assists, and did so in 44 games, totalling 2589 minutes, which comes out to an average of a goal involvement every 2.75 games, or every 161.81 minutes.

Unfortunately for the Englishman, the one-sided nature of this comparison persists when we examine their underlying numbers from last season, as the Lyon ace comes out on top in the majority of relevant metrics.

That includes things like non-penalty goals plus assists, passes into the final third and penalty area, goal-creating actions and more, all per 90.

It's these metrics combined with his output that suggest he'd be so effective alongside Pedro as well.

Just imagine how the Brazilian would fare with such a creative and dangerous winger to his left or right, and it wouldn't be one way either.

The fact that the former Brighton star was able to score ten goals and provide seven assists in just 30 games last season suggests he, too, could help the Frenchman's output soar.

Ultimately, Madueke has been a useful player for Chelsea over the years, but as things stand, Fofana looks to be the superior winger and someone who could help the Blues' new centre-forward hit the ground running next season.