Borussia Dortmund have reportedly rejected the first offer by Chelsea to sign Erling Haaland, with a part-exchange deal being rebuffed.
According to a report by Sky Sport Germany, Chelsea have faced a setback in their bid to sign Erling Haaland in the summer transfer window. Borussia Dortmund have rejected the offer of a part-exchange arrangement, which involved Tammy Abraham in the deal for the Norwegian goal machine.
Erling Haaland first burst onto the spotlight in the first half of the 2019/20 season, when he was scoring goals for fun for Red Bull Salzburg. A big move to Borussia Dortmund followed in January 2020, and the 20-year-old has only gone on to enhance his reputation of being a goal machine.
To date, Haaland has notched up a scintillating tally of 57 goals and 15 assists in 59 appearances for the Bundesliga giants and is already regarded as one of the best forwards in the game. Suffice to say, the youngster has popped up on the radar of just about every big club in Europe, with Chelsea, in particular, keen on signing him this summer.
The eagerness from Chelsea to land Haaland this summer makes a world of sense, mainly due to the fact that his €75 million release clause will come into effect next year, which will then bring into play a bevy of top clubs across Europe. Therefore, by paying a premium for the Norwegian goal machine this summer, Chelsea can get one up on the competition.
There have been suggestions that the Blues have been preparing an offer of a part-exchange deal for Haaland, and as per Sky in Germany, such a bid was seemingly lodged as well. However, Chelsea have had the offer knocked back by Dortmund, who have no interest in landing Tammy Abraham or Callum Hudson-Odoi as part of the Haaland deal.
Having said that, with Abraham being deemed surplus to requirement by Thomas Tuchel and Olivier Giroud on the verge of joining AC Milan, Chelsea do need to sign a striker. To that end, the west Londoners are also eyeing Danny Ings as an alternative to Haaland, although their preference is clear.
What will now be interesting to see is whether Chelsea are prepared to splash an even bigger buck to land their priority target this summer. If not, an all-out transfer war would be set to ensue next summer, when the who’s who of European football will be expected to launch the offensive for Haaland.
