Here are your Chelsea evening headlines for Monday, January 18.
Granovskaia makes Haaland decision
Marina Granovskaia has already made her decision regarding the transfer of Borussia Dortmund star Erling Braut Haaland.
The Chelsea director has made the young forward her top target ahead of the summer even though his release clause doesn’t come into effect until 2022, according to The Athletic.
The deal will cost the Stamford Bridge club big money with Dortmund said to be demanding far more than his already hefty exit clause.
That clause, said to be worth €75 million (£66.6 million), will not come into effect until the summer of 2022.
But with Real Madrid amongst a list of interested clubs, Chelsea will have to offer well above that to strike a deal to land the 20-year-old, who has scored 12 goals in 11 Bundesliga appearances this season and six in four Champions League games.
Haaland unlikely to leave
Despite Chelsea's apparent desire to bring Haaland to the club, it seems unlikely the Norwegian will be available this summer, and not only because of his release clause.
German football expert Jan Aage Fjortoft has said a move to Chelsea for Erling Haaland this summer is off the table.
"Re: Erling Haaland I understand there is no chance he will leave Dortmund this summer. He has been at the club only one year," he wrote on Twitter.
"Throughout his career it has been all about development. He is 20 and at a good place right now."
Haaland is under contract at Dortmund until 2024 but that release clause could make him more accessible next summer.
Drinkwater departure confirmed
Chelsea midfielder Danny Drinkwater has joined Kasimpasa in Turkey on loan for the rest of the season.
The midfielder has made just 23 appearances for the Blues since signing for the club from Leicester City in 2017 after winning the Premier League with the Foxes.
It has been a troubled spell since making the £35million switch to the capital from the Midlands as Drinkwater suffered from a severe loss in form, a lack of matches and loan spells at both Burnley and Aston Villa that really didn’t pan out well for the midfielder.
Drinkwater hasn’t made a first team appearance for Chelsea in more than two years and is out of contract in west London at the end of the 2021/22 campaign.
Chelsea are believed to be paying a substantial chunk of his wages while he heads abroad for the remainder of the 2020/21 campaign.
