Chelsea Transfers: Four alternatives to Erling Haaland

With the Euros now over, transfer season is in full force. Chelsea have been making headlines in the transfer world with the European champions willing to sign Borussia Dortmund star Erling Haaland.

With Olivier Giroud departing for A.C. Milan and a potential Tammy Abraham exit, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that Chelsea needs a number nine.

Haaland is the perfect target as he is one of the world’s most lethal strikers with 40 goals in 43 Bundesliga games with Dortmund. He is also one of the best young stars in world football with many labeling him as a “generational talent.”

However, with the Bundesliga side having already sold Jadon Sancho to Manchester United they seem reluctant to sell the Norwegian striker.

Sky Sports has reported that Chelsea face “mission impossible” in trying to sign Haaland.  Sky also reports that Dortmund won’t accept less £150 million. Sky Germany also says Haaland’s agent Mino Raiola wants £34.2 million in commission as part of the deal.

Leading football transfer journalist Fabrizio Romano also had this to say about Haaland to Chelsea.

According to Sky, a source close to Dortmund made it clear that the German club do not want to sell Haaland but it is still a possibility.

“Chelsea are trying but it is going to be very difficult,” the source said. “At the moment it looks like mission impossible. It is unlikely but that doesn’t mean it can’t happen.”

For the sake of this article, let’s assume for now that Haaland to Chelsea is off. It still can happen but let’s take a look at four other strikers the Blues can target.

Romelu Lukaku

Romelu Lukaku has been enjoying life at Inter Milan the last two years under former Chelsea manager Antonio Conte. The Belgian striker has scored 23 and 24 goals the past two seasons with Inter winning the Scudetto this past season ending Juventus’ nine year reign as kings of Italy.

Lukaku has been linked with a return to Chelsea before the Haaland rumors surfaced. In fact, Lukaku almost signed for Chelsea in the summer of 2017 to the point where he was looking for an apartment but Manchester United came and hijacked the deal.

Despite Lukaku’s first touch, the Belgian is a natural finisher and that is what the European champions need.  His 0.62 non penalty goals per 90 would sound like an option for Thomas Tuchel.

Lukaku grew up a Chelsea fan and a second chance to play for them would be tempting. However, that begs the question if Chelsea are willing to spend big bucks on a re-signing him as his value is worth about £90 million according to Transfermarket.uk.

Lukaku has also stated that he would like to stay at Inter Milan last month.

Harry Kane

The England captain has been wanting a move away from Tottenham Hotspur. Harry Kane won the Premier League golden boot with 23 goals.  He has eclipsed the 20 goal mark multiple times in his career and Tuchel would love to have his prolific goal scoring.

A link up of Kane with Mason Mount and Kai Havertz would make life for opposing defenders.

Kane is also going to be very expensive with his value at £120 million per Transfermarket.   As intriguing as it sounds, Kane to Chelsea is quite unlikely as Tottenham wouldn’t want to sell their star player to their London rivals and they don’t really want to sell him to anyone else either.

Danny Ings

After leaving Liverpool, Danny Ings has enjoyed life at Southampton scoring 22 and 12 goals the past two seasons.

Ings’ market value is around £20 million so he would be a cheaper option. He brings goals mainly inside the box. Ings also very good at timing his runs and can provide some pace and smartly gets into the right areas to receive a pass. He could come into Tuchel’s Chelsea and use those abilities to help the team on the counter attack.

The main concern with Ings is his injury history as the 28-year-old has suffered numerous hamstring injuries over the years.

Gerard Moreno

Gerard Moreno enjoyed a 23 goal season with Villareal helping them finish seventh in La Liga and win the Europa League. The 29-year-old was also part of Spain’s Euro 2020 squad that reached the semi-finals. He is valued around £36 million so this could be another cheap option for Chelsea.

Moreno is not only a striker but also a right winger kind of like Timo Werner can also play the wing. The Spaniard is clinical in front of goal, great on the counter attack and like Ings is great at timing his runs.

The concern for Moreno is he doesn’t really have much acceleration and his performance at the Euros was lackluster as he failed to score in five appearances.

However, if I had to choose a striker to sign for Chelsea it would still be Erling Haaland.