The Blues are on the lookout for a new striker, despite signing Timo Werner and Kai Havertz last summer. The attacking pair have had their struggles in England, and the club’s board members are looking to bring in a new forward to solve their issues.
Thomas Tuchel has transformed Chelsea since he arrived at the club. The team is more defensively robust at the moment. However, they continue to face troubles in front of the goal. Timo Werner is having problems finding the net, despite being Chelsea’s highest goal-contributor this season. Kai Havertz is just starting to hit form, Olivier Giroud is ageing, and Tammy Abraham’s future is uncertain.
As such, reports have come out suggesting Chelsea to be on the lookout for another elite striker. Borussia Dortmund’s Erling Haaland, unsurprisingly, is said to be among their top priorities in the upcoming transfer window.
However, signing Haaland will not be easy. The Norwegian hitman has earned the attention of clubs all over Europe. Joining Chelsea in showing interest is the Manchester pair, while Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Bayern Munich are reportedly keeping tabs. Moreover, new reports claim that any Haaland suitor will have to pay Dortmund a staggering transfer fee in the region of €180 Million. Clubs can sign him for less than half of that amount if they wait another year because of a break clause in his contract. Whether they do so is another question altogether.
The interest in Haaland, and his reported fee, are understandable. The Norway international has been unstoppable ever since breaking onto the scene with RB Salzburg. He has scored 49 goals in 49 appearances for Dortmund since his move in January 2020. Furthermore, he has 33 in 31 this season alone, with ten of those goals in the UEFA Champions League. He is also the joint-second goalscorer in Bundesliga, tied with Andre Silva and behind only Robert Lewandowski.
Should Chelsea find it challenging to arrange the funds to sign Haaland, or should the player decline a move to Stamford Bridge, the Blues will turn their attention to Inter Milan’s Romelu Lukaku. A report by The Telegraph claims that the club will look to bring the Belgian back to Stamford Bridge, after letting him leave for Everton back in 2014 for a fee in the region of thirty million pounds.
Lukaku has since gone on to play for Manchester United and is currently at Inter Milan. He has scored 19 goals this season and is second to only Cristiano Ronaldo in the league scoring charts. He has also provided eight assists this season, which is the joint-most in the league.
Chelsea initially signed Lukaku from Anderlecht back in 2012. The Blues paid €12 Million for the services of the teenager back then, with the figure rising potentially to €20 Million. However, the forward found opportunities hard to come by at Stamford Bridge. Subsequently, he was sent out on loans to different Premier League clubs, including West Bromwich Albion and Everton. He memorably scored a hat-trick for the former against his future employers, Manchester United, in what was Sir Alex Ferguson’s last game as their manager.
A loan to Everton in 2013/14 was converted into a permanent deal a year later, with Jose Mourinho sanctioning his sale. Chelsea, however, looked to bring him back in 2017/18 with Antonio Conte, then in charge of the senior team. Nonetheless, they lost out to United in the race for his signature, with the Red Devils playing a £75 Million fee. He left Old Trafford after falling out of favour under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in 2019, joining Serie A hopefuls Inter Milan.
