Who's really leaving: Erling Haaland, Harry Kane, Jack Grealish, Declan Rice, Raphael Varane? - Inside Football

ByDean Jones

Updated 23/07/2021 at 10:48 GMT

Who is really leaving in this very unusual summer: Erling Haaland, Harry Kane, Jack Grealish, Declan Rice, Raphael Varane? Eurosport's football insider Dean Jones reports on the very latest involving the five big stars in Inside Football and assesses who could really be departing and who might actually be staying.

Erling Haaland to Chelsea

Owner Roman Abramovich sees this as a moment when other big clubs—particularly Real Madrid and Barcelona—can not get involved in bidding, so it could be Chelsea’s best moment to make an offer.

But Borussia Dortmund are putting a huge premium on the player if Chelsea want to make a deal possible.

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Haaland’s release clause is 75 million and kicks in next year. His price this summer is 175 million - Dortmund’s way of showing it will take a very serious investment for any club that wants to queue jump rather than join next summer’s auction.

Dortmund do not want to sell - but we can never underestimate the drive of Abramovich and Marina Granovskaia.

There have been reports that Chelsea might first look at putting forward an offer of Timo Werner plus cash to land Haaland, but this is difficult to see coming through.

Werner is desperate to make a success of his Chelsea move but also is likely to see Dortmund as a step backwards. When he was leaving RB Leipzig it became clear there was only one German club he would consider joining - and that was Bayern Munich. German sources believe that is likely to remain the case but it may still be an option that is put forward.

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Alternatives are still being explored by Chelsea and the Romelu Lukaku situation is being worked on in the background, with the club having already made a very good personal offer via intermediaries earlier in the summer.

The possibility of that deal is not completely dead, though the player is content in Milan and has so far shown no signs of pushing for a move - despite the fact he would relish the chance to go back to Chelsea and prove himself.

VERDICT: Must bid soon or Dortmund will close the door

Haaland and Sancho

Image credit: Getty Images

Harry Kane to Manchester City

A report in The Sun is suggesting this deal is going to be done at £160million and that makes sense from the Spurs angle, as that’s where Daniel Levy has been setting his stall out.

Yet sources at Tottenham are playing down the story and Kane’s camp are not adding any fuel to the fire at this stage either.

It seems there is no deal in place but that does not mean an agreement will not materialise.

City are expected to make an offer soon and Kane and his representatives have been indicating that they want a serious offer in place by the time the player returns from his post Euros break.

He is due back for the final week of pre-season.

Behind the scenes Kane has always been assured that City intend to make an offer and £100 million was the figure Kane felt was a fair starting point for negotiations He has requested the club to respect his wish to move clubs when the offer lands.

City are going to match their ambition with the type of cash they have never spent on a player before as they prepare their offer.

City face Spurs on the opening day of the Premier League season - adding a layer of complexity to this negotiation. The chances of Kane lining up against Tottenham that day are pretty low.

So this one might well happen, but we should not expect an announcement just yet.

Verdict: City will make a statement and Kane gets his move

Harry Kane of England

Image credit: Getty Images

Jack Grealish to Manchester City

Aston Villa are open-minded about the prospect of selling Grealish but only at a very high price.

They would love him to stay and sign a new contract—and will try to convince him to do exactly that—yet there is a realisation that the player is very motivated to play Champions League football.

An offer from Man City would undoubtedly turn his head but the player must wait for that offer to arrive before he can start to think about a new challenge.

This has always been seen overall inside City as more likely than the Kane deal, given the club feel well prepared to satisfy both the player’s terms and the club’s demands.

Grealish loves Villa but knows tying himself to a new deal could impact on him getting out of the club another time further down the line of it became necessary, as so many players in recent times are currently finding themselves stuck in contracts.

At this stage City are the only club actively pursuing Grealish and it is understood he is excited about the prospect.

VERDICT: Villa will cave in if City prove they are serious about this

Declan Rice to Chelsea

The West Ham midfielder would jump at the chance to join Chelsea - but first the Blues are going to have to make an acceptable bid.

So far they have not made formal contact but have been made aware that the Hammers are trying to price him out of the market by putting a £100 million price-tag on him. Chelsea do not see that as reasonable and it is felt the £60-70million bracket is where they had been planning for.

Rice has refused to sign a new contract at West Ham and will continue to do so. This summer West Ham have not added to the squad, causing concern about their ambition and direction after last season’s promise.

Even Jesse Lingard is not close to signing, and he is a player that Rice loved playing alongside last season and presumed would be back.

Chelsea are expected to test the water with an opening offer for the player soon but this is going to take some good negotiating.

VERDICT: If Chelsea offer £80 million the deal will take shape

Jack Grealish, Declan Rice and Kalvin Phillips

Image credit: Getty Images

Rafael Varane to Manchester United

This is not massive in financial terms yet it would be a major statement if United could land Real Madrid’s French World Cup winner and partner him with Harry Maguire.

It would be a surprise for this deal not to happen now, given the player is keen on United and Madrid are willing to sell.

Personal terms are assured and with his contract winding down this is a time when he feels ready for a new challenge.

United are setting the bar at £50 million but ideally do not even want to get to that figure. This is the same bracket of spending they had planned for Pau Torres or Jules Kounde - yet while Varane is of better pedigree than both those players, his one year contract means United think they can get him at around £45 million.

VERDICT: Heading towards deal in time for new season

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