Chelsea’s pursuit of Erling Haaland only works in a limited way

Chelsea has been linked to Erling Haaland. A pursuit of the striker will only work for the club in a very specific and narrow way.

David Ornstein of The Athletic has revealed Chelsea would be willing to sign Erling Haaland this summer ahead of his release clause going live in the summer of 2022. Chelsea is still largely one of the few clubs that seems capable of big money signings and, though the price would be higher than the release clause, the Blues would rather get a jump on the competition than be one of many in a race for the Norwegian’s signature.

The young striker transferred to Dortmund from RB Salzburg just a year ago. Even then, there were rumors Chelsea, Manchester United, and more were interested. Since moving to Dortmund, he has only continued his hot goal scoring form. In his last three league seasons, he has played 26 times while scoring 25 times. Brought out to all competitions in the same period, it is 35 in 35.

Too good to be true? Well, yes actually. There are reasons why Haaland to Chelsea works and makes sense. But his joining would have to fit a very narrow set of parameters to work for Chelsea in the long term.

The immediate question will be about the strikers Chelsea already has. The Blues are expected to lose Olivier Giroud sooner rather than later. Tammy Abraham has not yet extended and this Haaland rumor makes that both wise and a scare tactic by the club (“we are planning for life without you if you don’t sign). Timo Werner just signed and though he has played little up top (for good reason), he was signed to score and another player to compete with hinders that.

There is a work around to this of course: two up top. Chelsea playing two up top could necessitate the need for more than two quality strikers, suiting all three of Abraham, Werner, and Haaland. Giroud too, should he choose to stay. But the issue with that is who drops to make way? If it is 4-4-2, a midfield will drop. If it is 3-5-2, the wingers would have to drop. For the former, the Blues could and probably will shed midfielders yet to alleviate the pressure. For the latter, Chelsea has been shedding wingers so that might be a longer term plan.

But then there are the financial issues. Chelsea doesn’t need another striker right now. Even if two up top is the plan for the long term, they Blues can get by with a lone striker for now. The Blues cannot, however, improve massively without a defensive midfielder. A “commanding” center back is also on the menu replace Thiago Silva long term. Striker is a low priority, and one the Blues cannot really afford to drop 80 million plus on at the expense of signing the defensive midfielder they have needed for upwards of three years and will still need or the center back that will be needed sooner rather than later too.

Beyond all of that is the Mino Raiola question. Chelsea has avoided dealing with Raiola because he is one of the worst agents in the game. It isn’t just form and ability that is causing Haaland transfer rumors just a year after he joined. It wouldn’t be surprising whatsoever for Chelsea to sign Haaland and in two years (tops) Raiola is pushing him off to Real Madrid. The constant drama of Paul Pogba at Manchester United would be brought to Chelsea’s doorstep. Not to mention the Blues have also been linked to another client of his, Gianluigi Donnarumma. If Chelsea is being used as the bogey man now, it is only a matter of time before Raiola does to Chelsea what he is doing to Dortmund and AC Milan.

Haaland, like Werner and Havertz, is a player too good to pass up if he is available and there is no competition. But how it affects the team and the issues with Raiola make it a harder pill to swallow. It can work and in that situation and it would work very well, but that is a narrow road to go down.