Chelsea's interest in Haaland speaks volumes of Werner's woes

 

Even with a measly release clause of £66m that becomes active in the summer of 2022, it's safe to say Borussia Dortmund can expect enquiries for star striker Erling Haaland long before then. It is exactly a year to the day Dortmund fended off competition from Manchester United to land Haaland and the Norway international's reputation has continued to soar over the last 12 months.

 

Many expect Haaland to move on at the end of the season, rather than in 2022, and he will not be short of potential suitors. Haaland has remarkably scored 35 goals in 35 appearances for Dortmund and is considered one of the best strikers in Europe at the age of just 20. Manchester City, Real Madrid, Manchester United, Paris Saint-Germain and Liverpool could all be on the market for a new striker at the end of the current season to name just a few of Europe's elite sides.

 

 

It will be fascinating to see where Haaland does end up but The Athletic are today reporting Chelsea are also now in the market for his signature. Despite investing more than £150m on new attackers in the summer, Chelsea want to land one of Europe's most sought after talents and are even prepared to break their club-transfer record.

 

Chelsea's interest in Haaland is interesting for a few reasons. It clearly signals Roman Abramovich's intent to get Chelsea back to the summit of European football but it also raises more concerns about summer signing Timo Werner. Signing Werner ahead of Liverpool was considered a huge coup by Chelsea and the Germany international was expected to light up the Premier League after scoring 28 league goals for RB Leipzig last season.

 

That simply hasn't been the case for Chelsea this season. The 24-year-old has only managed four non-penalty goals in 24 appearances across league and European competition for Chelsea and was notably dropped at the weekend in a must-win game for Frank Lampard. He isn't the only new signing to struggle at Chelsea this season, with Kai Havertz enduring similar woes, but Werner's profligacy has been a real problem for Frank Lampard's side.

 

Werner has looked completely devoid of confidence in front of goal, converting only three of his 12 clear-cut goalscoring chances in the Premier League. The German striker has also been denied five times by the woodwork, the joint-most of other player in one of Europe's top five leagues. While Werner has toiled, the same cannot be said for Haaland.

 

Since scoring a hat-trick on his Dortmund debut as a second-half substitute 12 months ago, Haaland has grown from strength-to-strength. Remarkably, Haaland's first seven shots on target were all goals. Indeeed, Haaland has the best conversion rate of the 86 players that have scored at least 10 goals in Europe's top five leagues since the beginning of 2020 (33.8%). Moreover, Haaland has a clear-cut chance conversion rate of 60.6% compared to Werner's 26.9% in the same period.

 

A potential move for Haaland doesn't mean the end of Werner's Chelsea career. Far from it. It would be extraordinary if Chelsea were now planning for life without Werner but that rightly has not been considered. Haaland has already shown at Dortmund he is not able to play every match and even then Werner showed at RB Leipzig he can play wide left very effectively.

 

Chelsea's interest in Haaland speaks volumes of Werner's woes

 

It does, however, spell bad news for Tammy Abraham. The England international has been stalling on a new deal over reservations about his playing time and Chelsea's interest in Haaland would suggest those concerns are well placed. Haaland is of course a huge upgrade on Abraham, but from his own perspective he may feel the need for a fresh start elsewhere. It could also further stunt the growth of Callum Hudson-Odoi if Werner is required out wide more regularly.  

 

Chelsea's interest in Haaland doesn't mean they are by any means favourites to sign him. In fact, it would be a huge surprise if Haaland ended up at Stamford Bridge but the fact Lampard's side are in the conversation suggests they believe they have a chance.

Chelsea's interest in Haaland speaks volumes of Werner's woes