Chelsea plotting club-record deal to sign Dortmund striker Erling Haaland

Chelsea have made Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland their top summer transfer target and will try to steal a march on other European giants by offering more than his release clause.

The 20-year-old has been in blistering goalscoring form ever since moving to Germany and has netted 12 goals in just 11 Bundesliga appearances this season, as well as registering two assists.

Haaland is one of Europe’s outstanding young talents and is on the wishlist of a number of clubs, notably Real Madrid, Manchester United and Manchester City.

A massive scramble to sign him was expected to happen in 18 months’ time, after the end of the 2021/22 season, when his £66.6million release clause becomes active.

But, according to The Athletic, Chelsea are trying to jump ahead of their rivals by offering a mammoth fee this coming summer – a year before the buyout clause comes into effect.

The west London club are ‘going to do their utmost’ to lure him to Stamford Bridge and are prepared to smash their transfer record, with a fee in excess of £100m likely needed to prise him away from Dortmund.

The Bundesliga club want to keep Haaland for as long as possible, even if it means losing him for a smaller fee in 2022, and will therefore demand a massive price to let him go a year early.

Although most clubs have seen their finances severely hampered by the coronavirus pandemic, Chelsea have spent freely – spending over £200m last summer – and feel they can exploit the market and their rivals’ current inability to spend big.

It could also mean they get a free run at Haaland over the coming months, particularly as Chelsea believe their rivals for the striker’s signature are waiting until 2022.

However, Chelsea still face a number of significant obstacles in trying to sign Haaland, not least dealing with the forward’s agent Mino Raiola.

The Blues are not on the best terms with Raiola after they failed to sign Romelu Lukaku back in 2017, while Haaland himself will also need persuading to move to the Premier League having been favouring a switch to Real Madrid.

Chelsea, meanwhile, do not view Haaland as a replacement for the misfiring Timo Werner and feel they would complement each other, with Olivier Giroud’s looming exit when his contract expires accelerating the need for a new target man up top.

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