Thomas Tuchel’s decision to declare Chelsea’s interest in signing Erling Haaland has angered his old bosses at Borussia Dortmund.
According to Bild, Dortmund haven’t taken kindly to Tuchel’s comments about their star man, who is under contract until 2024.
Haaland is one of the hottest properties in world football, having scored 70 goals, at a rate of more than one a game, since moving to Germany last January.
The Norwegian striker has 13 in 10 appearances so far this season, only once failing to find the net in the Bundesliga.
His combination of physical presence, impeccable technique and clinical finishing has attracted the interest of Europe’s biggest clubs, including Real Madrid, Manchester City and Manchester United.
Chelsea are also known to be admirers of Haaland, and have been heavily linked with him over the past year, but Tuchel recently made their interest public.
In an interview with Bild, he angered his former employers by announcing that Chelsea weighed up a move for Haaland over the summer and are likely to pursue him in future.
“We talked about Erling Haaland a couple of times, including during the transfer window. But then it seemed absolutely unrealistic and not at all feasible,” said Tuchel.
“We talk about him regularly, of course, because he’s a fantastic player and clearly the defining figure at Dortmund, who is a big rival for us in the Champions League.
“I don’t think we’ve been really serious about it yet, but let’s see what will happen in the next few weeks.”
Such comments could risk souring Tuchel’s relationship with Dortmund and damaging Chelsea’s prospects of landing Haaland ahead of the competition.
While the German club are keen to hold onto the prolific 21-year-old beyond the end of the season, it’s clear that his future lies elsewhere.
