When a player as quality as Erling Haaland comes on the market, it is hard for managers of top clubs to hide their excitement. Playing for Borussia Dortmund with lots of talent but not enough depth in key positions, it is almost impossible for the Norwegian to stay in Germany beyond the summer of 2022. When his release fee, believe to be around €75m, comes into action in the next year it is expected that the best clubs in the world will happily pay the fee.

Haaland, a generational talent, has been courted by many clubs including Chelsea. Despite growing up supporting Leeds United, the striker looks set to pick from one of his boyhood clubs rivals as the Manchester giants, Liverpool, Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, and even FC Bayern fight it out for his signature.

However, Chelsea have found themselves trying to find a balance with BVB after head coach Thomas Tuchel spoke a little too freely on his desire to see Haaland arrive. Given he is an ex-BVB coach himself, and who left the club on poor terms, it is no surprise that Tuchel has once again angered his former employer.

Never seen as the right fit with the fans, Tuchel fell out with the hierarchy and was even key in the exit for then-chief scout Sven Mislintat. It was a major issue for the club, and played a role in shattering some of the harmony that existed around the Signal-Iduna Park after Jurgen Klopp’s reign.

What did Thomas Tuchel say about Erling Haaland?

Despite seeing Romelu Lukaku arrive for a record fee this summer, Tuchel was clear that he was not happy entirely with his striking options. The likely exit of Timo Werner would create a forward void, and it looks like Tuchel already sees Haaland as the ideal way to fill that.

When asked about what he thought about signing the Norway striker, Tuchel said: “We talked about Erling Haaland a couple of times, including during the transfer window. But then it seemed absolutely unrealistic and not at all feasible,

“We talk about him regularly, of course, because he’s a fantastic player and clearly the defining figure at Dortmund, who is a big rival for us in the Champions League.”

It’s a quote that has caused his former employers to be annoyed, seeing it as the first majorly public courting to take place before the summer bidding war. BVB have tried to give Haaland a new contract, but it looks very likely that will be rejected as he looks to move on from the club in the summer.

Having scored more or less a goal or game, and when assists are added in arguably has more than a goal per game contribution, the former Molde player will most likely sign off in his time in Germany with a DFB-Pokal as his lone trophy.

Dortmund, then, are simply fighting a PR battle as they try to avoid their star talent becoming a talking point for the rest of the season. For Chelsea, though, the cat it out the bag: the interest is real. For getting more articles related to Chelsea FC, visit Chelsea FC supporters blog.