Chelsea are reportedly ready to test the waters with an opening bid of £77 million for Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland in the summer transfer window.
According to a report from WinSports, as relayed by the Express, Premier League heavyweights Chelsea are preparing an opening offer of around £77 million for Borussia Dortmund’s Norwegian goal-machine Erling Haaland.
The 20-year-old shot to fame at Austrian outfit RB Salzburg owing to his supreme goalscoring prowess. With a number of top clubs across Europe vying for his transfer, Borussia Dortmund won the race for his signing last January and Haaland has been a huge hit in Germany so far.
Till date, the Norwegian centre-forward has plundered 41 goals and 10 assists from 42 games in all competitions for Dortmund. Haaland has been in prolific form this term, with 25 of his 41 goals coming in 2020/21, which includes a double in the German outfit’s UEFA Champions League knockout clash against Sevilla earlier this week.
The 20-year-old’s prolific goalscoring form has led to interest from a host of clubs in Europe with the likes of Chelsea, Manchester City among his suitors. The Blues have made Haaland their top transfer target heading into the summer transfer window and are now planning to beat any competition for him by launching an early bid.
Haaland, in his contract with Borussia Dortmund, has a release clause worth £65 million which would only come into play in the summer of 2022. However, Chelsea are not prepared to wait till that happens and are now ready to make an opening offer of £77 million for the Norwegian in the upcoming transfer window itself.
Chelsea spent heavily last summer as well, bolstering their attacking unit with German sensation Timo Werner, among other stars. In addition, the Blues also have Tammy Abraham and Olivier Giroud competing for the centre-forward slots at Stamford Bridge.
However, Giroud is not getting any younger and is also out of contract at the end of the season. Thus, bringing in another top-quality centre-forward could become necessary for Chelsea, more so considering that Werner has found the going tough in England in his debut campaign.
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To that end, the west London outfit are now plotting an initial offer for Haaland. However, Chelsea are likely to face competition from La Liga champions Real Madrid in pursuit of the 20-year-old. Moreover, with his contract with Dortmund running till 2024, they will be in no need to sell either.
It remains to be seen how this story shapes up in the coming months. For now, it is clear that Haaland is a player in high demand, with Chelsea among the clubs pushing to sign him.
