Chelsea are still ‘courting’ Erling Haaland this summer, but the chances of a swap deal for the Borussia Dortmund star are low.
That’s according to Sky Germany, who say while such a proposal is being discussed, it is unlikely to happen as Dortmund aren’t keen.
Reports earlier this week suggested Chelsea had already offered two players plus cash in exchange for Haaland, but that was later denied in England and Germany, where they insisted no such offer had been made.
Despite that, the idea of a swap deal for the Norwegian is gaining strength, with Chelsea having a long list of players they could offer up.
Sky cover that today and say the Blues are ‘leaving no stone unturned’ in their pursuit, but they have not made an official offer or spoken officially with Dortmund.
Instead, everything is being ‘sounded out’ through intermediaries, including whether it would be possible to include players in any deal for Haaland.
The website then takes a look at those that could be included, with Tammy Abraham, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Hakim Ziyeh and Timo Werner the ones suggested.
They say that BVB simply don’t want Abraham, and while Dortmund would be ‘interesting’ for Hudson-Odoi, he does not want to be used as a ‘bargaining chip’.
Ziyech, meanwhile, could actually end up staying at Chelsea. He has interest from the likes of AC Milan and could move at the end of the window, but at the moment, the Blues ‘actually want to keep him’.
In terms of Werner, Chelsea have told Sky that they are ‘keen’ on the German, and thus he is not an ‘obvious candidate’ for a sale. They are, however, ‘asking around to see who might be interested’.
If they were to get a new striker, that could change, although there is every possibility Werner would just be moved to the wing, something he did at RB Leipzig.
Four of the main candidates for a swap deal with Haaland aren’t actually candidates then, and from what we can tell, Dortmund aren’t all that interested in such an arrangement anyway.
Chelsea remain keen on the Norway star, though, and are seemingly working every angle possible through middlemen to see if they can get a deal done.
