Welcome to the summer silly season! Chelsea FC were essentially “champions” of this competition, last time out, as they outspent the rest of the world, by a considerable margin, in the last summer transfer window.
Owner Roman Abramovich greenlighted a sum of about £220 million last summer, as the club made five new signings, and added two more on a free. We could have another summer spending spree in 2021, so let’s dive right in with the latest Blues transfer news, starting with the latest on their top target this summer, Erling Haaland.
As we all know, a lot of transfer rumors are truly “fake news,” so you have to be really, very careful when linking and analyzing them. The latest on Haaland is a report from Football.London stating that Chelsea now have competition from Real Madrid, so things just got more interesting, and difficult.
The same article reports that no official bid for the BVB centre forward has been made, and this comes a couple days after widespread reports that an agreement had been reached at 112 million GBP and personal terms also agreed. So clearly, we’re just not at that point yet.
Speaking of Erling Haaland “fake news,” the Borussia Dortmund superstar used that specific term when blasting a report in a Greek newspaper about his supposed spending spree while on holiday in the islands.
…I think they forgot the main courses?????? Fake news https://t.co/sCYhKHCCzQ
— Erling Haaland (@ErlingHaaland) June 26, 2021
Norway didn’t qualify for the Euros this time, so Erling Haaland has had plenty of time to go on vacation, and possibly ponder his club future. In addition to Chelsea and Real Madrid, he’s also been linked to both Manchester clubs. Chelsea no doubt has the cash on hand already to go and get Haaland, but they’re looking to raise money for that purchase too.
That would come via the sale of players surplus to their needs, like Tammy Abraham, or right back Reece James. The former is wanted by Aston Villa, the latter by Manchester City, according to The Athletic.
James has four years left on his deal at Stamford Bridge, with his having just signed an extension this past January. This means, in theory, he would command a very substantial fee in the transfer market. This despite the fact that it’s difficult to determine where he might fit in at City.
There is no clear first team position for James at the Etihad, but his versatility and ability to play multiple positions means that he could probably a find a place somewhere. Pep Guardiola is very creative, with his team of what is essentially mostly midfielders, so James could slot in several different areas.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune.
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