The past two seasons have seen Erling Haaland rocket to the forefront of the footballing conscience with outstanding goalscoring for Red Bull Salzburg and Borussia Dortmund earning him plenty of admirers, including Chelsea.
Haaland's blend of physicality, pace, excellent footwork and prowess in front of goal have made him one of the world's most sought after talents.
Real Madrid, Manchester United, Manchester City, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain have all been linked with a move for the 21-year-old and, with a reported €75million (£63million) release clause imminent too, the fight for his signature looks set to be intense.
However, Chelsea were handed a boost recently as it was reported Real Madrid had ruled out making a move for Haaland, with the assumption from Los Blancos being he wants a Premier League move.
The Spanish giants are thought to be prioritising a move for Kylian Mbappe instead, who will be free to negotiate a pre-contract agreement come January.
El Chiringuito host Josep Pederol recently stated that Madrid are now assuming that Haaland will make the move to the Premier League, putting Chelsea, United and City on alert.
In a recent interview with Spanish journalist Ramon Alvarez, Florentino Perez spoke of previous attempts to bring Mbappe to the Bernabeu.
"The state-owned clubs don’t sell their players. It’s a madness," he said.
"Now we offer €200million (£168million) for a single player and they don't sell him. When players finish their contract, it's better."
Perez added: "Since coming back to the club [in 2009], I am fighting. There are a lot of things that need to change, one way or another."
Chelsea broke their club record during the summer when they brought Romelu Lukaku back to Stamford Bridge for £98million but that is not thought to have stopped their interest in Haaland.
The Norwegian has scored 13 goals in 10 appearances for Dortmund so far this season before being sidelined with an injury.
So despite Lukaku's presence, it is hard to imagine Thomas Tuchel not wanting a player of Haaland's calibre in his side.
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