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Chelsea manager dropped £130m Haaland transfer hint

Thomas Tuchel teased Chelsea fans over the club’s interest in Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland on Saturday, declaring ahead of the 1-0 win over West Ham that they expect more from their forwards amid a disappointing goal return this term.

The Blues’ hopes of competing for the Premier League title this season under Frank Lampard were undermined by the disappointing output of the attacking talent they recruited last summer.

Lampard paid the price for the struggles of Timo Werner, Kai Havertz and Hakim Ziyech with his job and since Thomas Tuchel arrived as his replacement in January, the Londoners have been much improved.

Chelsea have a Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid to look forward to and will also contest the FA Cup final against Leicester at Wembley next month.

read also:Dortmund confident of holding onto Haaland – Zorc

In the Premier League, the win over West Ham at the London Stadium on Saturday – thanks to Werner’s first-half finish – also puts them in pole position to secure Champions League football for next season.

Yet despite the upturn in results under Tuchel, Chelsea have still regularly struggled in the final third, a 4-1 thrashing of Crystal Palace in early April aside.

read also:Chelsea sent Abraham warning amid Leicester City transfer links

But speaking ahead of the short trip to West Ham, Tuchel made it clear that Chelsea expect much more from their forward line, amid reports that they will push hard to sign Haaland from Dortmund in the summer.

The Norway international, 20, is wanted by almost all of the biggest clubs across Europe after producing 37 goals and 11 assists in 38 games this season, to go with 16 goals and three assists in 18 Dortmund outings last term.

Haaland has established himself as the hottest young centre-forward in world football with his blistering goal return in Germany and Dortmund are desperate not to lose their No 9 this summer, purposefully slapping a prohibitive £130million transfer price tag on his head.

But Chelsea are set to rival Manchester United and Manchester City, as well as Real Madrid and Barcelona, to try and sign Haaland this summer in spite of that valuation, which would smash the Premier League transfer record.

And Tuchel, in conversation with Sky Sports in the build-up to West Ham, appeared to confirm those intentions by admitting the Londoners are in need of a ruthless and productive finisher – which Haaland certainly is – to take them to the next level.

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