Chelsea “regularly” discuss the possibility of signing Erling Haaland and considered a move for the Borussia Dortmund striker this summer, Thomas Tuchel has revealed.
Haaland has continued his goalscoring exploits for Dortmund this season and has now scored 49 Bundesliga goals in as many appearances.
It has been widely reported that the Norway international has a release clause of around £80million in his contract that will become active in 2022.
Chelsea, along with Real Madrid, Manchester United and Manchester City, were linked with a move for the 21-year-old this summer, in which they signed Romelu Lukaku from Inter Milan for a club-record fee.
But Tuchel has admitted that the Premier League club continue to monitor Haaland ahead of next summer, when a transfer to one of Europe’s top clubs is likely to happen.
“We talked about Erling Haaland a couple of times, including during the transfer window,” Tuchel told Bild. But then it seemed absolutely unrealistic and not at all feasible.
“We talk about him regularly, of course, because he’s a fantastic player and clearly the defining figure at Dortmund, who is a big rival for us in the Champions League.”
When asked whether Haaland and Lukaku could play together at Stamford Bridge, the German manager said: “We can talk about it! I don’t think we’ve been really serious about it yet, but let’s see what will happen in the next few weeks.”
Haaland, who has scored nine Bundesliga goals in six matches so far this season, is represented by super agent Mino Raiola, who held meetings with clubs last summer along with Haaland’s father, Alf-Inge.
