Chelsea 'willing to smash their transfer record to sign Haaland this summer'

Chelsea 'will go all-out to sign Borussia Dortmund's Erling Haaland this summer' and are prepared to smash their club record spend to get him.

Haaland, who has scored 19 goals in 17 matches for Dortmund this season, has a £66.6million release clause in his contract which cannot be triggered until 2022.

The Norwegian striker, 20, is attracting attention from a number of Europe's leading clubs, including Real Madrid, Manchester United and Manchester City.

But, according to The Athletic, Chelsea will attempt to sign Haaland at the end of the season, even if it means paying significantly more than the release clause amount.

Dortmund are understandably reluctant to lose such a key player who has scored 35 goals in 35 matches for them since arriving from Red Bull Salzburg in January 2020.

But Chelsea want to sign a world class striker and believe the impact of Covid-19 on club finances across Europe gives them a window of opportunity to outbid their rivals this summer.

At the moment, Chelsea's record spend on a play is the £80m Kai Havertz will cost them if all add-ons are triggered. The Germany international arrived from Bayer Leverkusen last summer.

The Athletic report that a further obstacle to signing Haaland will be having to deal with his agent, Mino Raiola.

Chelsea were angered by Raiola when they missed out on Romelu Lukaku in 2017, when the Belgian striker went to Manchester United instead.

But the club reportedly believes that Haaland is the man to take them to the next level both in the Premier League and the Champions League.

He could combine with Timo Werner, the German striker signed from RB Leipzig for £54m last summer. Werner has scored nine times for Chelsea but hasn't scored in the Premier League since November 7.