Raiola stokes the Haaland flames as Chelsea reportedly ‘growing more confident’

If super-agent Mino Raiola has his way — which he often does — this summer is going to be dominated by the transfer saga of one Erling Braut Haaland, and especially if Borussia Dortmund continue to yuck it up in the Bundesliga. They have eight points from their last seven games and have sunk to sixth, six points out of the Champions League spots with 14 matches to go.

While Haaland may have some reservations about certain potential destinations like the Premier League, his agent certainly doesn’t expect that to deter any incoming bids. What will however deter them are the financial realities of the situation.

“It is obvious that everybody is looking at Erling as one of those potential new future stars because it’s so difficult to do what he does at his age at his level. He will be one of the future stars of the next decade because we see that stars such as Ibrahimovic, Ronaldo and Messi are coming to an age where everyone asks themselves: ‘How long can we still enjoy them?’ So everyone is looking for the new generation.

“Only a maximum of 10 clubs can afford to buy [Haaland] and give the platform you would like after you’ve been in Dortmund… and four of those clubs are in [England]. I don’t think there’s a sports director or trainer in the world who would say ‘not interested’.”

-Mino Raiola; source: BBC

Presumably those four Premier League teams are the two Manchesters, Chelsea, and ... Liverpool? I guess? Arsenal? Well, it’s the first three that matter the most anyway in this case.

Either way, it’s anyone’s guess just how much chance Chelsea actually do have. We have apparently identified Haaland is a prime target — tough one, that! — and according to Eurosport’s self-styled “Transfer Insider”, Chelsea are in fact “growing more confident” that our chances may be good. You see, we’ve been “quietly making progress behind the scenes” by talking to Haaland’s entourage. Or not so quietly, as it were. E, Turtle, and Drama can only spell VICTORY, right?

In any case, it’s still only February and this is one transfer saga (and associated domino effect on our other strikers) that won’t end too quickly or prematurely. Some are already comparing it to the Eden Hazard sweepstakes of almost a decade ago, so we can only hope we end up winning the Champions League again in the meantime.