The three clubs battling to capture Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund
A host of clubs are interested in Borussia Dortmund’s Erling Haaland but only three clubs are evaluating their chances to sign the 20-year old goal fetcher according to reports.
Haaland’s name became popular in football during his last season of Red Bull Salzburg career, netting 17 goals in 16 league games between 2019 and 2020.
Haaland’s form in the 2019-2020 saw Manchester United, Liverpool, Tottenham and Borussia Dortmund entered into competition but the Norwegian International snubbed United for Dortmund in the season’s winter transfer.
His sensational displays have continued since joining Dortmund at the Signal Iduna Park and has so far grabbed 21 goals in 19 games in all competition this season. While reports indicate that Haaland is focused on his career at Dortmund, clubs have shortlisted and are planning lucrative offers for the former Salzburg forward ahead of subsequent transfer windows- starting from this January one.
Real Madrid, Chelsea, Manchester United and Barcelona have become aware of Haaland’s goal-scoring prowess with the elites weighting the books to see the possibility signing the forward.
It’s understood that Laliga outfits Real Madrid, Barcelona together with Chelsea are the three clubs desperate to launch a bid this January or summer to bring Haaland in from Dortmund.
The Laliga duo and Premier League side are struggling up front and are looking up to bolster their attacking lines. For Real Madrid, Luka Jovic has left for a loan spell at Eintracht Frankfurt living Karim Benzema as the only centre-forward at Santiago Bernabéu.
Although the French International is on the verge of producing the numbers he did last season- 21 goal/8 assists in 37 league appearances- after involving in 15 goals in 17 outings this term, he is not a man Real Madrid can depend for longer term due to his age 33 years, 13 more years older than Haaland and Benzema’s injury means shortage in Madrid’s front line.
With Real Madrid reportedly planning to start a new project with or without shaky Zidane, deals for Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland who is seen as a long term candidate to lead the project or complement Benzema are in the pipeline.
The Athletic has recently revealed that Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez already have the plan in place including the funds- where surplus to requirement players would be offloaded plus savings from the last two years transfer window- to embark on deals for Mbappe and Haaland.
However, Zidane’s side may face serious competition from bitterest rivals Barcelona who are not just knee on signing Haaland but ready to hand the Norwegian International the on.9 shirt.
The Catalan club have struggled to find the perfect Suárez Díaz replacement since the Uruguayan International’s departure to Atletico Madrid last summer. Suarez has so far hit the ground running at Wanda Metropolitano after netting 12 goals in Laliga Santander to emerge joint top scorer with Moroccan ace Youssef En-Nesyri who plays for Sevilla.
Suarez’s departure has make Lionel Messi who have 11 Laliga goals the main source of goal for Ronald Koeman’s side though at times Antoine Griezmann has been alternative goal sharer at Camp Nou.
Griezmann is gradually warning himself properly into the Barcelona side but that would not prevent the former Champions League winner from searching for a new centre-forward for next season and the spotlight points to Dortmund’s hot prospect Haaland claimed by AS.
The 20-year old’s contract runs until June 2024 and as it stands now, he has no release clause at Dormund. However, transfer expert Fabrizo Roman has revealed via 90minutes that Haaland does have a release clause of €75million which will become active in 2022.
This means that interested clubs including Barcelona can buy Haaland at lower or higher price of that his release clause depending on club’s (Barcelona) bargaining power.
It’s understood that Barcelona may tempt Dortmund- who are willing to keep hold to their prize asset for long- with £65million in the summer transfer window.
While Real Madrid and Barcelona most keen Haaland’s transfer in the summer, Chelsea who have become a strong candidates in recent time are said to eyeing the January bid for the Dortmund star according to football.london.
The Premier League outfit spent more than £200million to strengthen its squad especially in attacking areas of the team for this season. However, the Blues continue to struggle and seem unchanged from last season with recent poor results in the Premier League incurring pressure on Frank Lampard before he was fired on Monday morning.
Timo Werner was signed to play as a centre-forward but the German International has been consistently used in wide areas up front.
Chelsea could have managed to compete in the season with Olivier Giroud, Tammy Abraham and Werner as the club’s main strikers but they may capitalized on the opportunity to sign only exceptional talents in this January transfer window and Haaland is one of them.
It’s understood that Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is happy about Haaland’s transfer talks in the media of late particularly the ones linking the Bundesliga ace with a move to Stamford Bridge.
Abramovich is reportedly ready to sanction the deal this January only if Dortmund are ready to sell their striker despite who replaces Frank Lampard. Thomas Tuchel looks the one to take over from Lampard.
If a deal in this window is not possible, Chelsea will launch a new bid in summer but will have Real Madrid and Barcelona to battle for the player’s signature.
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