Future Chelsea star Emanuel Emegha is set to become a huge success after making his first appearance for the senior Netherlands team.
The 22-year-old will move from sister club Strasbourg to the Blues in 2026 in order to finally put an end to the glaring striker question at Stamford Bridge.
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Enzo Maresca is still waiting for a frontman to be the focal point of his attack, with Joao Pedro more suited to the No.10 role.
The Brazilian scored in back-to-back Premier League games in November, but previously suffered a 10-game losing streak.
His main rival, Liam Delap, is yet to score since returning from a two-month injury, while he was sent off against Wolves last month.
Emegha also started the season with a thigh problem but has picked up right where he left off under Liam Rosenior this season.
The Dutchman has scored six goals and provided two assists in his first eight games of the season for Strasbourg, including a brace in Sunday’s impressive 2-0 win over Lille.
For this reason, Emegha was called up by Dutch coach Ronald Koeman for the World Cup qualifiers against Poland and Lithuania.
European football expert Andy Brassell told The Pitch Prospect.com that everything was coming together at the right time for Emegha.
He said: “Everything is going well for Emegha because if he reaches the Premier League in 2026 and does well there, he will be the Netherlands striker at Euro 2028, that’s pretty clear.”
“He’s still young, of course. But given his age, he has quite a bit of experience in French football.”
“I think he’s a talented leader. He makes good runs. He’s strong. He’s a good finisher.”
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Emegha against Chelsea’s striker this season
Ligue 1 and Premier League only
Emanuel Emegha
Hits: 5
Goals: 4
Assists: 2
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Joao Pedro
Games: 11
Goals: 4
Assists: 3
Liam Delap
Hits: 4
Goals: 0
Assists: 0
Emegha is called the “next Zlatan”.
Maresca recently caused a stir with his harsh criticism of Delap’s “embarrassing” and “stupid” red card upon his return.
However, Emegha continued to live up to his reputation as the ‘next Zlatan’ by scoring the goals despite having to deal with taunts from his own fans.
Brassell added: “Since deciding to move to Chelsea he has endured a lot of criticism which may seem unnecessarily harsh to some of those around him.”
“Everyone knew when he started playing well for Strasbourg that he would eventually end up at Chelsea because they have first place because it is Strasbourg and he is a player of very high quality.”
“But I think the fact that he was made captain and a few weeks later posed in a Chelsea shirt at Stamford Bridge upset some Strasbourg fans.”
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“I completely understand it. I understand that, but after a few ultras in Strasbourg [during a 1-0 league win against Le Havre] When he put up a banner saying he was just a pawn of BlueCo, he was obviously a little upset about it.
“So when he scored a goal at Paris FC, he took off his shirt, pointed to the back and made quite a show of it and everything else.”
“Since then he’s been sidelined to some extent because he’s no longer in the team. Joaquin Panichelli came in and played really, really well.”
“The Argentine center forward made it onto the top scorers list in Ligue 1. Fantastic performance from him.”
“When he scored those two goals at PSG, Panichelli told Liam Rosenior it was the best performance from a center forward he had ever seen.
“Because he was such a staunch defender of Emegha, it was pretty interesting; it felt like they had gotten past Emegha a little bit.”
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Emegha will be a huge success for Chelsea
“But then he comes back into the team, slips back into the captain’s armband and scores twice in the win against Lille at the weekend.”
“The second goal after a really bad back pass from Olivier Giroud, who, by the way, hasn’t scored in the league since August.”
“Really, I think this highlights not only Emegha’s quality, but also his attitude and his belief in himself.”
“That makes me believe he’s going to be a huge success in the Premier League. Because in those moments when he’s under scrutiny or marginalized, he has the courage to come forward and say, ‘Yeah, okay, this is what I’m made of.’
“And he proves it every time, and it’s super impressive. And that’s why he has a lot more to say this season.”
“Think about whether he and Panichelli play together or not. I don’t think it really matters because I suspect Strasbourg will advance quite far in the Conference League.”
“So they’ll have a lot of games ahead of them. But yeah, I think he’ll be a big success for Chelsea.”