This Thursday brings us some Chelsea FC transfer talk to sink our teeth into ahead of the previews for the London derby on Sunday. All summer long, Chelsea was linked with a move to acquire Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund, but the price was just too high.
Stamford Bridge moved on and signed Romelu Lukaku instead, and this left Timo Werner, who moved over from the Bundesliga just last summer, in a less than optimal position.
Now German outlet SportBild state (h/t Daily Mail) that the Chelsea forward and Germany international is a surprise candidate to replace Haaland. With a release clause of about 68 million GBP to kick in next summer, BVB is already looking at eventual replacements.
The 21-year-old made it 21 UCL goals scored last night, and he already has nine scoring strikes in just seven appearances across all competitions this season with Dortmund.
Werner, who is now down the pecking order at Chelsea (due to Romelu Lukaku being everything Chelsea hoped he would), makes 17 million GBP per year in salary, and will likely need to take a major pay cut in order to move to Dortmund.
Timo Werner is considered an expensive bust now, with the former RB Leipzig man having scored only six goals in 35 PL appearances last season.
Our other Chelsea transfer talk item also covers a German, in central defender Antonio Rudiger. The 28-year-old is in the final year of his contract, and potential extension talks are not going anywhere right now.
With Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid said to be circling right now, the west London side risk losing him for free. The Evening Standard has more at this link.
If he does move on, with Kurt Zouma having left already for West Ham United this past summer, it really speaks to the makeover that we’re seeing in central defense right now with the Blues.
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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