Jase

https://www.bbc.com/sport/56566256 One of the FA Cup semi finals will have fans at Wembley, as part of the UK government's pilot events for crowd return.

The full article... Chelsea’s plans to try to recruit a new striker this summer do not currently include selling Timo Werner or offering him as part of a big-money bid for Erling Haaland. Borussia Dortmund star Haaland is among Chelsea’s top targets, but they face stiff competition for the Norwegian from Manchester City, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Barcelona. That has resulted in speculation in Werner’s native Germany that Chelsea could include him as a sweetener in a bid to convince Dortmund to sell to them instead of any of their rivals. But Telegraph Sport understands that is not a strategy that is currently under serious consideration at Chelsea, who have also not discussed selling Werner less than a year since he moved to England for £47.5million from RB Leipzig. The unpredictable nature of the transfer market means it is impossible to categorically rule anything in or out, but Chelsea would only likely consider offering Werner as part of a bid for Haaland if Dortmund expressly insisted it was the only chance of completing a deal and even then Chelsea could still reject such a suggestion. Similarly, a sale of Werner would only be countenanced if the 25-year-old expressed a desire to leave Stamford Bridge but the indications are currently that he wants to stay and fight for his place. And with Olivier Giroud approaching the end of his contract and doubts hanging over the future of Tammy Abraham, who is yet to begin talks over an extension to his deal that has two years to run, Chelsea will know that giving up on Werner so soon could leave them short of competition in attacking areas. Werner has scored only one goal in his last 20 Premier League games, but he has contributed valuable assists and won crucial penalties since Thomas Tuchel’s arrival as head coach. The German international is a popular figure within the Chelsea squad and has also impressed club officials with his willingness to fulfill broadcast interview requests while going through a difficult period on the pitch. Chelsea’s hopes of signing a new striker do not rest solely on winning the race for Haaland, with their former player, Romelu Lukaku, among those under consideration as an alternative option. Lukaku almost returned to Chelsea before joining Manchester United and he has since confirmed himself to be one of the best out-and-out strikers in the world at Inter Milan. Inter are currently top of the Serie A table, but the club’s perilous financial state may force them to consider offers for Lukaku, although the Belgian is said to be happy in Italy playing under former Chelsea head coach Antonio Conte. It is so far unclear how much input head coach Tuchel will have in Chelsea’s summer transfer business, given his current contract will only have one year remaining on it at the end of the season. With his team fighting for a top four place in the Premier League and in the quarter-finals of the Champions League and the semi-finals of the FA Cup, Tuchel has claimed that he is not yet given any thought to Chelsea’s summer plans.

What have you been drinking last night?

I know, I know. Am just curious if it would have turned out that way had he stayed, because the drop had been quite sudden.

Came across this (there are also more examples) and I don't get how he's gotten from this finish to what he's doing now...

Doesn't explain all the muscle injuries he's gotten.

Pray for @killer1257 😛

Thought he had missed an open goal or something. Went to check it out and yeah, it was a missed chance but not a sitter sitter. Also, are goalkeepers not allowed to make a save or something? I know Werner has missed opportunities but seems like every chance not put away will be branded as "missing a sitter" or something along those lines. There are bad misses by him but there are also those decently saved by keepers.

Not saying it's fluky but wondering whether he can keep this goalscoring rate going every season. Is it good to say peak really early in a career? I guess we'll find out...

Said it before, Tuchel can get away with the rotation this season but next season onward, at some point, he needs to have a more settled selection.

Curious to see a timeline where had he stayed with us, would he have become injury prone etc...

Boooooooo!

Funny thing is, his on the field reactions aside, we don't even know what exactly he wants. We're just out here speculating based on the rumors going around. He hasn't said or even teased about leaving - e.g. similar to Hazard - or heck, even Raiola doesn't seem to make much noise about him compared to his constant noise about Pogba.

That Haaland will leave this summer or next summer is clear. The point is Dortmund would prefer to sell him next summer and are seemingly willing to take the hit from his price fee, even if they qualify for the Champions League this season. So what's to say that they can't or won't do the same if they don't qualify? Would Dortmund necessarily be weaker if they have to sell 1-2 players not named Haaland? It feels like they have had a similar issue as us. They lost their way under Favre and then hired an inexperienced interim manager who has failed to provide any sort of improvement. Who knows if they could get back to their old levels under Marco Rose, who of course was Haaland's former manager at Salzburg.

A decent discussion about Haaland's future here...

I just realized/remembered something about this fixture - Ivanovic is coming back to the Bridge! Shame that there's no fans in the stadium to welcome him back.

Oh...you were scouting him?

Not a reliable source at all FGS, especially when it quoted a Spanish source of all things. Bild, a reliable German one, reported the opposite recently. Also, it's funny when potential swap deals are mentioned, like it's easy to complete as if the players in question won't have any say in it. If the player(s) doesn't(don't) want to move, then the club(s) can't do anything about it.

Am not blaming Haaland for Dortmund being crap. Just saying that while he's a proven goalscorer, he's not a not a proven winner...yet. As for his goalscoring record, I have been wondering whether he's really one of those goalscoring freaks or whether his numbers will eventually plateau at some point because not even the likes of Messi and Ronaldo were posting such numbers at his age. TBF, Mourinho only became toxic after it became clear that the board didn't want to sign the players that he wanted. He was still fine when we won the title, after we won it. Go listen to his interview in the last game of 2014/15 when we lifted the trophy. It's the same thing that made Conte just give up after his title win.

I don't necessarily disagree with you. Am just trying to look at what we can work with - e.g. the squad that we have - if we can't sign any striker of note this summer. It's not a complete lost cause because the potential is there. By the way, it's also kinda ironic that we talk about getting a proper striker etc and while Haaland has shown that he can score goals, it's easy to forget that he's still inexperienced at leading a big side to major trophies. But the board not fully backing the manager is nothing new, is it? It's not just because of Lampard's lack of credentials. Conte wanted duds but he also wanted someone like Van Dijk, only for the club to deem him too expensive, for example. Mourinho wanted Pogba and Stones but got neither, another example. Right or wrong, the club will always dictate the transfers.

He could play against England tomorrow.