Erling Haaland: Chelsea open talks over £170m move for Borussia Dortmund striker – Paper Round

Chelsea have opened talks with Borussia Dortmund over a move for Erling Haaland, the Daily Mail reports, but a move for the Norway international will prove difficult as the full cost could be close to £170m. Dortmund do not want to sell the striker this summer, but Chelsea will look to negotiate a deal and could use £40m-rated Tammy Abraham as part of their offer.

Paper Round’s view: This is going to be such a tough deal to get over the line this summer. Dortmund will be in no mood to budge, and why should they be, given Haaland is arguably the most in-demand player in Europe and he has three years left on his contract. If no one meets their valuation, they’ll happily look forward to another season with the striker, and Haaland does not strike you as the sort of player to down tools. It’s on Chelsea to make Dortmund an offer they can’t refuse.

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Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy is not interested in any player exchanges when clubs come offering for Harry Kane this summer, The Sun reports. The England captain looks set to leave Spurs after the Euros, but only if his valuation is matched, and with Levy looking for £150m – and no player-plus-cash deals – it will make any deal even tougher. Manchester City reportedly offered Spurs £60m plus Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus, but Levy wasn’t interested.

Paper Round’s view: Like Dortmund and Haaland, why not play hardball if you’re Spurs, especially when it comes to a Premier League rival, and in City’s case the best team in the country who would become almost untouchable with Kane. With his contract not running out until 2024, Levy can play this game for a couple of years, and he’ll be happy to do so.

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Brighton have placed a £50m valuation on Ben White after the defender was called up to the England squad for Euro 2020, the Daily Mail reports. England manager Gareth Southgate picked White to replace the injured Trent Alexander-Arnold on Monday, and following on from his impressive first season in the Premier League, Brighton are keen to fend off interest from Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool by placing a hefty price-tag on the centre-back.

Paper Round’s view: That didn’t take long. Into the 26-man squad and into the gossip columns. As ever with players at clubs lower down the Premier League rung, it’s almost inevitable for such rumours to surface, but give it a year or two and the 23-year-old looks destined for a bigger move after impressing to the point where many have backed him to start ahead of Tyrone Mings and Conor Coady on Sunday.

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Burnley striker Chris Wood is attracting interest from Aston Villa and West Ham, according to the Mirror, while Everton are also waiting to see if their new manager would be keen to sign the New Zealand forward. Wood has reached double figures in each of his four Premier League seasons with Burnley, and now rival clubs are looking to swoop for the striker.

Paper Round’s view: Impressive figures and at 29 Wood will hope he has at least one big contract left in him in the Premier League. It all sounds very West Ham, and that wouldn’t be a bad thing for either party, if Burnley are willing to sell.