How times change. At the dawn of the Premier League the news that Chelsea wanted a rugged English striker to hurl himself at crosses, preferably after smashing through a centre-half in the brusque style of Kerry Dixon or Mick Harford, would barely have caused a ripple. Yet when it emerged last week that they were lining up a £20m bid for Andy Carroll – and then started making eyes at Peter Crouch – their fans were entitled to check their calendars to make sure it was not 1 April.
Reports on Sunday morning that Chelsea had turned their attention to the Roma striker Edin Dzeko suggested sanity had returned to the Stamford Bridge boardroom – until, that is, they were linked with Burnley’s journeyman forward Ashley Barnes hours later.
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