Chelsea’s new striker Romelu Lukaku: Who the hell are you vol. 19

But what does this mean about Erling Haaland?

It’s going to be hard to separate the Lukaku saga, brief as it may be, from the overall Haaland saga. Chelsea had seemingly pursued Haaland for months only to turn back towards Lukaku. With Haaland’s release clause going active next summer and most of Europe sure to be in for him, there is a bit of opportunity cost to be had with the Lukaku deal.

Perhaps more than anything, fans need to ask themselves how realistic it is to pay Haaland’s 150 million transfer fee with another 50 million in agent fees after that. If someone thinks that is a price Chelsea was capable of paying or willing to pay, then yes this means Haaland isn’t happening. If someone things the Blues would never pay that price, then the situation doesn’t really change because everything simply shifts to next summer when Chelsea will be one of many trigging the buy clause.

Now, there is nothing to say Chelsea won’t trigger that buy clause next summer. Even if Chelsea doesn’t go two up top, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to have both Lukaku and Haaland. Perhaps more than anything else, fans are afraid Chelsea won’t win a race for Haaland when there are other competitors or they won’t have a spot for him to consider Chelsea a destination.

While all that makes sense on paper, the situation for Chelsea won’t really change from not paying his 150 million+50 million fee this summer. With or without Lukaku, Chelsea would just be one of many clubs after the Norwegian. Perhaps the advantage the Blues have is that they were the only club even willing to entertain the 200 million fee this summer, but Haaland will choose whichever club he thinks will be best for his career regardless. That could still be Chelsea just as much as it could be Barcelona (if they can make money appear out of thin air), Real Madrid (if they don’t get Kylian Mbappe), Manchester City (with or without Harry Kane), or even Manchester United (if they somehow make themselves look appealing within a year).

Basically the only thing that really changes for Chelsea overall is they have a superstar striker now and Haaland is about as likely next summer as he ever was. It’s kicking the can down the road while still solving the main issue for this year.

Overall, Lukaku is the megastar signing fans have been clamoring for since last season. He’s not the flashy signing that Haaland would have been, but he’s got a point to prove and he’ll score tons of goals in the process. This is an absolute win for Chelsea and sets the club up for a fantastic season.