On today's agenda, we've got a rumour coming directly out of Germany as Borussia Dortmund are”highly” interested in Chelsea's Alvaro Morata, or at least so claims the reputable Bild Zeitung (not to be confused with the unreliable SportBild). This is reportedly part of the Borussen’s attempts to address their striker situation after allowing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to leave for Arsenal back in January and only replacing him with Michy Batshuayi on loan. Wait, didn’t they want Batshuayi to stay? Why would they want Morata??
We're well and truly into Silly Season now, people!
Neue Elefantenrunde in Dortmund - BVB investiert 80 Mio! https://t.co/0WWvorsGYp
— BILD BVB (@BILD_bvb) May 15, 2018
BVB’s hunt for Bathsuayi isn’t over yet, but with Chelsea so far not keen to do business there, apparently Morata is being seen as an acquirable alternative. The tables have turned and the backup has become the master now!
While this specific acquisition sounds like a lot of money for Borussia Dortmund to spend, they are flush with cash following the recent sales of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Ousmane Dembele (over €200m combined) and are ready to spend over 80 Million Euros on players this season. This may be the first time since the ‘90s that Dortmund actually have money to throw around.
Despite his patchy first season in English football, it wouldn't make much sense for Chelsea to sell Morata already, especially with the summer transfer window already promising to be a very busy one. But BVB want to actually compete with Bayern after 7 years of uninterrupted dominance form the Bavarians, and the 25-year-old is apparently seen as a potential cornerstone of that resurgence.
That said, I'm not overly concerned about Morata leaving Chelsea for Dortmund (or Juventus, for that matter), as it would make absolutely no sense for either party right now and I also can't see the player moving to a country which isn't Italy or Spain.
I'm far more concerned about the current lack of transfer rumours regarding incoming players. Come on, Silly Season, how about some nice, juicy gossip on some exciting incoming players, you're letting us down here!