Chelsea boss responds to Erling Haaland links

Thomas Tuchel has played down rumors about Chelsea’s interest in Borussia Dortmund’s Erling Haaland amid goal-scoring problems at Stamford Bridge.

Tuchel has enjoyed an impressive start to his managerial career in London, with Chelsea avoiding defeat in all 12 competitive games with the German in the dugout (W8, D4).

There is a genuine feeling that the former Paris Saint-Germain manager shored up the Blues’ defensive woes, with Edouard Mendy keeping nine clean sheets in 12 outings under the new boss.

Although Chelsea conceded an average of only 0.17 goals per match under Tuchel, problems at the other end of the pitch have seen a few eyebrows raised.

The Londoners have scored one goal or less in 66.67% of their competitive fixtures since the 47-year-old replaced Frank Lampard, managing a miserly average of 1.08 per game.

It is worth noting that Olivier Giroud’s tally of two goals is second to none since Tuchel’s takeover.

Such a disappointing attacking output has prompted speculations about Chelsea’s interest in Dortmund’s goal-machine Erling Haaland.

Hailed as one of the most promising young prospects in football, the Norwegian striker has been nothing short of outstanding since joining BVB in January 2020.

There is no doubt that Haaland would be a massive upgrade on both Giroud and Timo Werner, but Tuchel is currently focused on getting the best out of his current strikers.

“I’m happy because we don’t only look at the output, how much they score, how much they assist,” said Tuchel as quoted by the Daily Mirror.

“Of course this is something, some statistic to which every striker is attached, and everybody needs to have the mentality to cope with the pressure that comes along with statistics. It’s like this in high-level football.

“But I have to say at the moment everybody is working hard, nobody is lazy, nobody is taking their time outs when we’re defending. We’re defending high. We’re defending as a block.

“We’re still looking a little bit for the breakthrough for one or two guys to go on a run and score consistently. Obviously that’s not the case at the moment, and we will not stop pushing and stop looking for solutions to create more clear chances for them.

“That’s the way it is, but there’s no need now to reflect for the summer or reflect on solutions other than the solutions that we have.

“We have guys we are happy with and who have the potential to be more decisive, and we will try to help them.”