Chelsea will consider a transfer move for Erling Haaland this summer but the club’s board have one huge concern about signing the Borussia Dortmund striker.
Haaland has established himself as one of the best players in the world over the last three years, scoring an incredible 80 goals in 79 games for Dortmund.
The 21-year-old has also been prolific for Norway, netting 12 goals in 15 international matches, with his form for club and country catching the eye of several big teams.
Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City, Real Madrid, Barcelona, PSG and Bayern Munich are all believed to be huge admirers of Haaland, who is expected to leave Dortmund at the end of the campaign.
While the Blues spent almost £100m to resign Romelu Lukaku last summer, the London club could still look to sign Haaland due to the Norwegian’s age and reputation.
But, the Evening Standard claim there are some concerns within Chelsea over how Haaland would handle the Premier League, with some European players struggling in the English top-flight in recent years.
The most obvious example is Jadon Sancho, who has scored just twice for Manchester United after his £73m move from Haaland’s Dortmund last summer.
Chelsea failed to add to Thomas Tuchel’s first-team in January but reports say they will back the German coach with at least three key signings in the summer.
Last week, Liverpool legend Ian Rush questioned why Chelsea sold Tammy Abraham to Roma in the summer window amid Lukaku’s wobble in London.
The Wales hero told Gambling.com: ‘I’ve been watching Romelu Lukaku’s progress since he patched things up with Thomas Tuchel but he doesn’t seem to have rediscovered his form for Chelsea as I expected.
‘I see it as a slightly similar situation to the one Harry Kane was in at the start of the season. He’d made his desire to leave Tottenham very public and when Spurs refused to budge he struggled for form once the season got going.
‘But Kane is starting to score goals again now and I wonder will Lukaku go the same way once he gets some minutes under his belt.
‘We know he can score goals because he’s done it at every level already, but he’s got to build up his fitness because he doesn’t look sharp.
‘You could even argue that he’s trying a bit too hard. I’ve been in that position before where nothing is going in for you and then you start to overwork which makes matters worse.
‘As a striker, sometimes you have to just wait for a chance to come along and when you eventually tuck one away everything else tends to fall in to place.
‘Some Chelsea fans may be wondering why they sold Tammy Abraham and brought in Lukaku. Abraham is scoring goals for fun in Italy, although it has to be said Serie A is not as strong as the Premier League these days.
‘But the big difference between Abraham and Lukaku right now is that the former is enjoying his football. Jose Mourinho has been showing Abraham some love, which is really important for a striker, while Lukaku and Tuchel haven’t exactly seen eye to eye.
‘It’s important for Lukaku to just knuckle down and stay patient, I’ve no doubt his quality will shine through for Chelsea sooner or later.’
