Will Erling Haaland Move To Chelsea?
Erling Haaland transfer rumours have been one of the biggest stories in football over the last 18 months. Chelsea Haaland news has been common, even after the European champions splashed big money on Romelu Lukaku, Timo Werner and Kai Havertz.
Conquering Europe in 2021, the Blues have become a fantastic knockout team.
Their league form remains a point of frustration for Thomas Tuchel and the Stamford Bridge faithful, however, and they could once again spend heavily in the summer of 2022 as they look to close the sizeable gap to Manchester City and Liverpool.
Chelsea’s attack has been an issue this season, and not all of that is down to Tuchel’s tactics. They have generated just 42 expected goals in the Premier League, miles behind City and Liverpool who are both into the sixties.
Even the ever-dysfunctional Manchester United have created greater goal scoring opportunities across the season.
The Blues’ leading league scorer is Mason Mount with seven – 18 players have scored more, and only one other Chelsea player (Romelu Lukaku) has scored more than four non-penalty goals in the league.
Erling Haaland Release Clause
Erling Haaland Chelsea links largely centre around his £70 million release clause in the summer of 2022. The Norwegian is under contract with Borussia Dortmund until 2024, but this release clause makes a transfer in 2022 extremely likely.
Given the market value for talents of his ilk, he’s a bargain at that price. Kylian Mbappe moved to PSG for around £150 million. Jack Grealish, Jadon Sancho and Joao Felix have all cost in the region of £100 million.
While those deals have had varying success, there’s no doubt Haaland is more accomplished than Grealish or Felix when they got their big moves.
Manchester United paid a fee similar to Haaland’s release clause when they signed Angel di Maria in 2014. There has been enormous transfer fee inflation since then, only furthering the case that this is a bargain.
If he moves this summer, Haaland will not even be in the top 15 transfer fees of all-time.
He’s not 22 until July, has scored better than a goal per game for Dortmund, and is already among the five best strikers on the planet. This is one of the best value transfers in recent memory by the standards of football’s mega rich.
Chelsea have shown they are willing to spend fees of this size, too.
Haaland’s release clause is considerably less than they paid for Lukaku and should come in at a similar figure to the transfer fees for Kepa Arrizabalaga and Kai Havertz. It’s a no brainer for the west London club to be interested.
The Romelu Lukaku Problem
Mateja Kezman, Andriy Shevchenko, Fernando Torres, Alvaro Morata, Gonzalo Higuain, Romelu Lukaku.
Chelsea do not have a good record when it comes to big-money striker signings, with only Didier Drogba and Diego Costa being unquestioned successes in the Roman Abramovich era.
Chelsea paid just shy of £100 million for Lukaku, who has produced less than half the expected goals per 90 that he did at Inter last season. He has scored five Premier League goals in almost 1,200 minutes.
Quite simply, Lukaku is not playing like a £30 million striker, let alone a record-breaking signing.
Lukaku’s second Chelsea act hasn’t gone according to plan, and another messy divorce seems inevitable. Still, Lukaku’s presence has to hamper their Haaland ambitions.
Do they splash on Haaland if they can only loan Lukaku out? How big a financial hit are they willing to take on the big Belgian?
Haaland and Lukaku being at the club together is not a realistic option. Lukaku has already shown signs of frustration when being left out by Tuchel, and those would be amplified if he became the clear second choice behind the Norwegian phenom.
Haaland in a Chelsea shirt is only a realistic prospect if the club is able to move Lukaku on.
Doing so will not be straight forward – the combination of one of the highest wages in the Premier League and his current form makes a loan move back to Italy the most likely outcome.
Competition for Erling Haaland Transfer
It’s easier to ask which of Europe’s biggest clubs haven’t been linked with Haaland at this point.
Cash-strapped Barcelona were curiously reported to have interest a while back. Real Madrid are due a marquee signing. Manchester City have a berth at centre forward.
Manchester United still don’t have a long-term number nine, and it’s unclear if Cristiano Ronaldo will remain at the club for 2022-23. PSG, as ever, are a possibility if Mbappe leaves.
Chelsea, in theory, can rival any of those clubs when it comes to wages.
They paid Lukaku the big bucks to return to Stamford Bridge, though, which while showing they have the cash, might also hamstring them financially if they can’t get anyone else to take on what has proven to be a bloated salary.
Real Madrid and Manchester United have the lure of reputation. PSG and City can potentially offer the biggest pay day and a guarantee of silverware.
Chelsea are not going to be in pole position in the Haaland sweepstakes, but with a Champions League in 2021 and likely plenty to spend, they can deliver a compelling pitch to the Norwegian and superagent Mino Raiola.
Chelsea need a striker. Players like a Haaland are not available very often at such a reasonable fee. There’s a long way to go in this transfer saga, but it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Dortmund man end up in west London.