Erling Haaland’s stock continues to rise rapidly in the world of football.
Just days ago, he stole the headlines after breaking Kylian Mbappé’s record as the youngest player to score 100 career goals in 146 appearances.
On a night where Dortmund needed to win again, the Norwegian ‘goal machine’ stepped up to the occasion once again. Haaland scored another brace against Sevilla in the UEFA Champions League, a 2-2 draw which sees Borussia Dortmund through to the quarterfinals 5-4 on aggregate.
Taking his personal tally to 20 in the competition in just 14 games, Haaland becomes the fastest and youngest player to reach twenty goals in UCL history.
He is also Norway’s top scorer in the Champions League, overtaking Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s 19 in the competition.
At 20 years and 231 days of age, Haaland is also the youngest player to score in six consecutive Champions League games in Europe’s premier club competition.
The Norway International has the football world at his feet, quite more seismic than Mbappe, and is showing no signs of slowing down.
Asides being a clinical goal-scorer, Haaland is a hard worker and can linkup as well as score all kinds of goals. He has already registered 47 goals and 11 assists in 47 games for Dortmund.
His explosive pace, athleticism and movement are already of the highest level and Haaland needs to play for a top club with a brilliant project to harness his superstar potential. Par for the course, the striker has the pick of any club in the world as the hottest player in Europe right now.
Haaland has been linked to Man United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Man City, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich and is going to cost more than £100million this summer with his £68million release clause not coming into play until the summer of 2022.
With Dortmund needing the cash injection should they fail to make the top four, Chelsea look like they could be in a race with only Man City. Both clubs can crucially afford the transfer in a pandemic market and they can offer immediate success compared to Man United or Liverpool who are set to miss out on Champions League football next season.
Pep Guardiola’s men need a long-term replacement for Sergio Agüero but the prospect of being Chelsea’s main man and leader in trophy pursuits might be the incentive Haaland needs.
Bookmakers have placed Haaland to Chelsea at 7/2 on Skybet and it could be a match made in heaven.
World Cup winner Olivier Giroud’s contract expires in the summer and Tammy Abraham’s future at Stamford Bridge also remains uncertain. Haaland could yet come in and cement a spot as the vocal point in Chelsea’s attack under Thomas Tuchel alongside Timo Werner.
Chelsea have struggled to find that lethal finisher upfront having struggled to truly replace Didier Drogba asides Diego Costa’s three-year spell. Thomas Tuchel has reiterated the need for Chelsea to be more clinical, bemoaning a “lack of precision” and “lack of quality in decision-making” in the final third.
Since the German took over, the Blues are enjoying more possession and getting into the opposition box more frequently, but their scoring rate has dropped as well as their numbers for expected goals and shots on goal.
Crucially, Haaland is just what Chelsea need – like all top clubs right now – but he could be the missing piece in Tuchel’s attacking jigsaw, especially as Timo Werner prefers to play alongside a pure centre-forward.
Whatever the outcome, Haaland would cause a real frenzy for his signature this summer and the proceedings could be as exciting as his goals.
Be that as it may, Marina Granovskaia must be at her savvy best to make Haaland Chelsea’s statement signing.
Agree with Kolade? Disagree? We’ll be happy to get your opinion on a possible Haaland move to Chelsea in the comments.
Football Lover. All-round junkie of the beautiful game. Could be found watching football most of the time. If not he’s writing about them or making some punditry you don’t agree with. A certain bias for Arsenal and Santos FC.