Chelsea mark Stuttgart star as Haaland alternative; serious interest in AS Monaco talent

The Blues are yet to make a move in the summer market, despite offloading some players already. While Erling Haaland remains the big target, reports claim that the club has marked fellow Bundesliga ace Sasa Kalajdzic as an alternative. 

Chelsea confirmed the sale of Marc Guehi to Crystal Palace on Sunday night. The academy product, who spent the last season-and-a-half on loan at Swansea City, joined Palace in a transfer thought to be around 20 million pounds. Guehi’s departure came soon after that of Olivier Giroud – the latter joined ex-Chelsea teammate Fikayo Tomori at AC Milan. The Blues, however, are yet to bring in reinforcements. 

Erling Haaland remains the club’s key transfer target, but there are doubts whether a transfer could materialize this summer. Borussia Dortmund have maintained the stance that the Norwegian is not for sale, more so after qualifying for the Champions League and selling Jadon Sancho. The Athletic’s Chelsea correspondent Simon Johnson reports that the Blues have marked VfB Stuttgart’s Sasa Kalajdzic as an alternative option. 

24-year-old Kalajdzic came on the radar of many European clubs last summer, partially due to his 6ft 7in stature. The Austria international scored 16 goals in the Bundesliga last term and added another in the domestic cup.

Subsequently, he was rewarded with a place in Franco Foda’s Austria squad for the European Championships, which took place earlier this summer. Kalajdzic scored one goal for his national team in the tournament, which came against eventual champions Italy in a Round-of-16 loss. 

Further down the pitch, Chelsea are also interested in signing a new midfielder. Declan Rice is a player the club has held an interest in over the past few seasons, his name first popping up last summer with the then head coach Frank Lampard keen to bring him to Stamford Bridge. Rice has rejected his current club West Ham United’s latest contract offers in an attempt to tie him down. However, reports claim that the Hammers will still demand a fee of around 100 million pounds to part ways with their star midfielder. 

Consequently, Chelsea have identified an alternative in Aurelien Tchouameni. The AS Monaco man will cost significantly less than Rice and is thought to be a serious target for the club.