Erling Haaland

[Superblue 6,331]

3 hours ago, Jas said:

The midfield and defence.

As for the offence, have long said it that I don't think we necessarily need a big name striker - we need one if only because both Abraham and Giroud are likely to leave - but someone low key, reliable and can work with the rotation. Basically, am in a similar train of thought with Tomo here...

I too agree with this. I believe that Werner and Havertz could be significantly better next season, especially Havertz. I wouldn't write Ziyech off either, he's in the same boat as Havertz and Werner having to adapt to a new league and he arguably had things worse as the Eredivisie closed down after Covid and then he got injured so he effectively missed 6 months of football. Pulisic and Mount are both young and there's plenty of space for both to improve also.

The issue here though is there may be an opportunity to buy one of the absolute top young talents in world football and somebody who looks primed to be one of the best strikers of this generation for the next decade or longer. With the current situation we're in compared to almost all other clubs we could really set ourselves up for another period of dominance.

People questioned in the same way buying Havertz last season as we'd already signed Werner and Ziyech and had the likes of Pulisic and Mount, but I think it was a big and correct call to identify him as a superstar in the making and to get him when we had effectively a free run at him. If Haaland represents a similar opportunity this summer then I think we should try and get him. 

However if Haaland doesn't materialise, then I'd rather run with what we have then just buying any striker for the sake of it.

[King Kante 1,290]

17 minutes ago, R2D2 said:

 

Another person that knows nothing 

[iceboy 992]

Thisss...

[R2D2 368]

9 minutes ago, iceboy said:

Thisss...

Fucking crypted articles, you can't even read without paying.

[iceboy 992]

1 minute ago, Mana said:

Romano is one of my favourite/top journalists out there. You're right, he hasn't said a peep. So unless he says something (and it's positive), this Haaland deal ain't happening.

Matt has spoken, he was better journo than Fab about Chelsea last season.

[MoroccanBlue 5,194]

Both Sterling and Silva rumored to be unhappy. 

For Haaland to happen, I reckon both Ziyech and CHO need to go. Preferably the latter on loan if possible. 

[Strike 6,958]

Guardian has an article saying BVB are prepared to sell Sancho this summer and Haaland next summer.  

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/jun/08/dortmund-plan-to-keep-haaland-amid-Chelsea-interest-but-ready-to-sell-sancho

[Fernando 6,375]

55 minutes ago, Rekin said:

I know the usual argument is "It's not your money", but I can't help but feel that a transfer this gigantic would have a strong impact on future transfer windows.
Haaland is a brilliant player with heaps of potential, but do we really want to make such an enormous investment should the opportunity be there? 

For this kind of money you would expect basically the next coming of Messi, and is Haaland that? He is an amazing goalscorer, but I am personally not 100% convinced he would do well against the very packed defenses we often encounter in the league. 

I think that if the question is put as "Would you like Haaland?", it is easy to say "Yes, big time".
If the question instead was "Would you like Haaland, but then not get other players such as Varane, Rice etc" it would be a bit tougher (at least for me).  
 

A big question for me is also what this transfer would entail for how we play. What would the formation be, which of our more regular starters would become rotational players etc. 

This is even not considering the almost guaranteed drama a few years from now where the flirting with other clubs begin so that Mino can get his latest cut. 
 

 

 

 

To be fair I would like to spend that money on Mbappe. For me Mbappe is in that bracket of the hire to Messi. 

But I don't see that feasible, so right now Haaland is the best second option out there. So worth the money as we are in another top generational talent. Like Kai. 

I repeat for me Mbappe tops them all, but I find much easier to deal with Dortmund for Haaland then PSG. 

[Jype 6,398]

5 minutes ago, R2D2 said:

Fucking crypted articles, you can't even read without paying.

Telegraph paywall is a joke, you can always bypass it and read the full article by stopping the page refresh before the log-in window appears. 

Says there the club are also exploring the idea of negotiating a deal for next summer in advance if Dortmund are holding firm in not wanting to sell this summer. Similar to the Pulisic deal when he stayed in Dortmund till the rest of the season but everything was agreed in the January window. Haaland has a release clause for next year but I'd imagine in that case the club would pay more than the release clause now in order to clinch a deal before others can come compete for his signature, a little bit like Naby Keita to Liverpool a few years ago.

[Jase 43,479]

1 hour ago, Artandur said:

I still can't see it, just feels like everybody jumping on the bandwagon atm. Romano has been completely quiet on it so far, so i'll be very interested to see what he has to say about the situation.

Is there anything in Germany on this, apart from any story that's quoting Christian Falk and/or Fjortoft?

[Jase 43,479]

1 minute ago, Jype said:

Telegraph paywall is a joke, you can always bypass it and read the full article by stopping the page refresh before the log-in window appears.

Yup, have been doing that. 🤣 A free way to bypass their bloody paywall!

[Blues Forever 1,232]

2 minutes ago, Fernando said:

To be fair I would like to spend that money on Mbappe. For me Mbappe is in that bracket of the hire to Messi. 

But I don't see that feasible, so right now Haaland is the best second option out there. So worth the money as we are in another top generational talent. Like Kai. 

I repeat for me Mbappe tops them all, but I find much easier to deal with Dortmund for Haaland then PSG. 

Really? Mbappe only has one year left, PSG either sell him now or let him walk for free next summer.

[Strike 6,958]

1 minute ago, Jas said:

Yup, have been doing that. 🤣 A free way to bypass their bloody paywall!

 I do this with NYTimes too

[Jase 43,479]

54 minutes ago, R2D2 said:

 

For the love of god, can we please only share updates from actual journalists (reliable or not) and not some Tom, Dick and Harry? Gonna have to start deleting nonsense posts at this rate...

[Jase 43,479]

26 minutes ago, iceboy said:

Thisss...

Full article...

Erling Haaland is believed to be interested in a move to Chelsea if the European champions can find a way of negotiating a deal with Borussia Dortmund – either for this summer or next.

Telegraph Sport reported on Monday that Chelsea have not abandoned their interest in Haaland, despite Dortmund’s insistence the striker is not for sale this summer.

It is understood that Chelsea are not only exploring the possibility of trying to sign Haaland this year, but also of setting up an agreement for next year if Dortmund remain determined to keep him for another 12 months.

Chelsea have a good relationship with Dortmund from the deal that saw Christian Pulisic move to London in a transfer that was negotiated in January 2019 for him to join in the summer of that year.

Whether or not it would be possible to come to a similar arrangement over Haaland if Dortmund will not agree to any deal this summer remains to be seen.

That may also rest on whether or not Chelsea can sign a different big-name striker this summer if Dortmund refuse to let Haaland go this year, but their choices appear limited.

A deal to sign Haaland would cost over £150 million this summer, but the Norwegian is reported to have a release clause in his Dortmund contract that would allow him to leave for between £65m and £86m next year.

Currently only Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United would be able to afford to sign Haaland this summer, but Real Madrid are thought to be hoping he stays at Dortmund one more year so they can make an offer in 12 months.

That has persuaded Chelsea to try to find out whether or not any deal can be set up for now or in the future for Haaland, who is thought to be attracted by the prospect of a move to Stamford Bridge.

Whether or not Chelsea would be his preferred destination if City, United and Real Madrid all at some stage made bids is not known. But Chelsea feel optimistic enough about their chances not to have abandoned their interest and have also attempted to find out whether or not Dortmund would be interested in Tammy Abraham.

The fact Chelsea are pursuing Haaland does not mean that they have turned away from Romelu Lukaku, who last week insisted he will stay at Inter Milan.

Chelsea want to sign a new striker and currently have a number of balls in the air with City also in the market for a replacement for Sergio Agüero.

Should City sign Harry Kane from Tottenham Hotspur, then Chelsea could get a free run at Haaland and Lukaku while other clubs, including Real, are hamstrung by the financial impact of the coronavirus.

While United are interested in Haaland and Kane, their priority is to sign a wide player with Jadon Sancho their number one target and Dortmund ready to sell the England winger.

[Pizy 17,860]

Saying he’s interested is a bit useless. He’s probably interested in like 8 clubs.

And unless we do some kind of strange deal where we buy him now but let him stay in Dortmund for a year, waiting does us no good. By this time next year we could be outside of the CL places and coming off a poor season. Then we won’t be nearly as appealing to him. Bayern will have been tapping him up all season. And Real Madrid/PSG/City/United will be in his agents ear offering him £600k per week to sign with them.

It’s now or never.

[MoroccanBlue 5,194]

1 minute ago, Pizy said:

Saying he’s interested is a bit useless. He’s probably interested in like 8 clubs.

And unless we do some kind of strange deal where we buy him now but let him stay in Dortmund for a year, waiting does us no good. By this time next year we could be outside of the CL places and coming off a poor season. Then we won’t be nearly as appealing to him. Bayern will have been tapping him up all season. And Real Madrid/PSG/City/United will be in his agents ear offering him £600k per week to sign with them.

It’s now or never.

I would agree. Cash + Tammy the likely best option. If Batshuayi can look good at Dortmund, Tammy would be a great option for them. 

Edited June 8, 2021 by MoroccanBlue

[Jase 43,479]

49 minutes ago, Superblue_1986 said:

The issue here though is there may be an opportunity to buy one of the absolute top young talents in world football and somebody who looks primed to be one of the best strikers of this generation for the next decade or longer. With the current situation we're in compared to almost all other clubs we could really set ourselves up for another period of dominance.

People questioned in the same way buying Havertz last season as we'd already signed Werner and Ziyech and had the likes of Pulisic and Mount, but I think it was a big and correct call to identify him as a superstar in the making and to get him when we had effectively a free run at him. If Haaland represents a similar opportunity this summer then I think we should try and get him. 

However if Haaland doesn't materialise, then I'd rather run with what we have then just buying any striker for the sake of it.

I know it's Haaland and I know he's a striker and you could say we need a striker but at the same time, there's also an element of "we need to buy him because he's the shiniest toy out there" to this. Last summer, it was Havertz. This time Haaland. Next year, Mbappe? There seems to be little thought given to the squad building here and the club, including Roman, just want to buy every shiny toy out there. While Haaland's position is at least obvious, I'd argue that we are still trying to figure out Havertz. Like, what is his best position? Is he a False 9? Is he an attacking midfielder? Is he a #10?