The German hasn’t ruled out the possibility of trying to bring the prolific striker to Stamford Bridge.
Thomas Tuchel has confirmed that Chelsea is interested in Erling Haaland and says there are “regular” chats about a potential transfer for the Borussia Dortmund sensation.
Haaland has emerged as one of the hottest properties in European football over the past two years, having shot to prominence at Red Bull Salzburg before taking his game to even greater heights at Dortmund.
The Norwegian has scored 70 goals in 69 appearances since joining Dortmund for €20 million (£17m/$23m) in January 2020, attracting attention from a number of top clubs in the process, with Chelsea reportedly among his admirers.
What’s been said?
Tuchel has now confirmed that Haaland has come up in conversation several times over the course of his nine-month reign at Stamford Bridge, including during the summer transfer window as he sought a new centre-forward.
“We talked about Erling Haaland a couple of times, including during the transfer window. But then it seemed absolutely unrealistic and not at all feasible,” the Chelsea boss told SportBild.
“We talk about him regularly, of course, because he’s a fantastic player and clearly the defining figure at Dortmund, who is a big rival for us in the Champions League.”
The Blues ended up signing Romelu Lukaku from Inter instead, but Tuchel hasn’t ruled out the possibility of deploying both men in the final third of the pitch.
Asked if he can see Haaland moving to Stamford Bridge next summer despite Lukaku’s presence, he added: “You mean two at the top [with] Lukaku and Haaland? We can talk about it!
“I don’t think we’ve been really serious about it yet, but let’s see what will happen in the next few weeks.”
Dortmund’s stance on Haaland
Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester City and Manchester United have also been linked with Haaland, but he is still under contract at Dortmund until 2024.
Club officials have repeatedly played down rumours that the 21-year-old will be sold at the end of the season, and current manager Marco Rose is optimistic that he can be convinced to stay put for the long term.
“Just because the public is constantly talking about him leaving BVB next summer, that doesn’t necessarily have to be the case,” Rose said in August.
“In the end, Erling has to decide for himself where he sees his future. In any case, we are happy that he is currently playing for us – and, who knows, possibly it’ll be even more than just one season if we write an extraordinary story here.”
Source: GOAL.COM
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