Chelsea have reportedly seen their opening offer for Erling Haaland rejected by Borussia Dortmund, according to Sky Germany. After weeks of intense speculation, the Blues have finally made their first move for the Norwegian striker who is Thomas Tuchel’s No 1 target but as they have said all summer, Dortmund are insistent Haaland is not for sale.
Despite that, agent Mino Raiola continues to be open-minded in regards to his client’s future as he continues to speak with Chelsea in the background.
He has been told quite clearly by Dortmund that they do not want to sell Haaland at any price.
The 20-year-old’s £64million release clause becomes active next summer and is set to spark a scramble.
Yet having already lost Jadon Sancho to Manchester United, Dortmund are not willing to entertain offers for their talisman.
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Tuchel is solely focused on landing a new No 9 despite winning the Champions League last season.
Match-winner Kai Havertz operated as a false-nine in the final against Manchester City but Chelsea have lacked a clinical, goalscoring striker.
Timo Werner was supposed to provide that but he failed to live up to expectations in front of goal since arriving from RB Leipzig last summer.
He has instead played from the left-side of attack and now Haaland is deemed to be the final piece of the jigsaw.
Tuchel confirmed several months ago that Chelsea were interested in signing Harry Kane, should he be available.
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However, they now appeared to be focused on signing Haaland and they have a free run on the Dortmund striker.
Barcelona and Real Madrid held talks in Spain with Raiola and Alf-Inge Haaland but both clubs cannot finance a deal.
Manchester United finally convinced Edinson Cavani to sign a one-year contract extension and therefore no longer need a new centre-forward.
Meanwhile, City are focusing their efforts on signing Kane although Daniel Levy is expected to win the battle and keep his star striker in north London.