Chelsea wanted Erling Haaland over Romelu Lukaku
Chelsea made a bid for the Norwegian in the summer of 2021, but Dortmund did not want to sell him. The Londoners tried again this summer.
Erling Haaland has had a brilliant start to the Premier League and Champions League campaigns with his new club Manchester City. Some doubted whether he would be able to maintain his Bundesliga goalscoring form in England, but in just over a month of competition, the Norwegian already looks set to become one of the greatest goalscorers of all time.
The young striker did eventually sign for City, but things could have turned out differently. According to transfer market journalist Fabrizio Romano, Abramovich’s Chelsea tried to sign him in the summer of 2021. Dortmund were reluctant to sell the Norwegian until this summer and it was then that Chelsea made a bid for Romelu Lukaku. Haaland was the priority.
New owner Boehly also interested in Haaland
At the start of the last transfer window, Chelsea were blocked by Abramovich and the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which meant the English club were unable to sign any players. The club’s new owner, Todd Boehly, also tried to sign Haaland this summer, but he arrived too late and City managed to land the star striker.
The goalscoring machine has scored in almost every game this season in a City shirt, but if Dortmund had been willing to sell the player a year earlier, he might now be celebrating goals in a Chelsea shirt instead of a City one.