Man United legend names the only player Chelsea must sign to challenge for titles next season
- Rio Ferdinand tells Chelsea to sign Erling Haaland if they must contend for the Premier League and Champions League
- The Norwegian is available for purchase in the summer for any club that can meet his £90 million buyout clause from Dortmund
- However, Chelsea must contend with competition from a number of clubs including Man United and Liverpool should they go all out for the Norwegian
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Rio Ferdinand has urged Chelsea to snap up Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund to help them challenge the Premier League and Champions League titles.
Ferdinand made the suggestion after the Blues were held to a disappointing goalless draw against Leeds United on Saturday, March 13, to stumble in their top-four race.
The match saw the west Londoners miss the services of key strikers upfront, including Tammy Abraham who is out injured.
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With both Timo Werner and Olivier Giroud starting from the bench, Kai Havertz was tasked with the responsibility of leading the goal hunt.
Source: Getty Images
However, the German was unable to unlock Leeds' stubborn defence as Chelsea eventually settled for the stalemate.
The former England international believes the Stamford Bridge dwellers should prioritise the signing of a No.9 this summer, and should look in the direction of Haaland who is available if a club meets his release clause of £90million. Rio told BT Sport:
"But I think the levels of this club at the moment, I think they’ll go into the market to buy an out-and-out No.9. Haaland is the one who’s on everyone’s lips, he’s the player in form"
"A lot of clubs are sitting there thinking, ‘if we get him that takes us from being a contender to actually having a real chance of winning, a proper contender."
Despite spending over £200million on new signings last summer, Chelsea have failed to live up to their billing, struggling to compete effectively with Premier League rivals.
Their draw at Elland Road has them sitting fourth on the log with 51 points, just three off fifth-placed West Ham United who have two matches in hand.
The Thomas Tuchel-tutored side will be out to make amends for the performance against Leeds on Wednesday night, March 17, when they place Atletico Madrid in the second leg of their Champions League last 16 fixture.
Chelsea head into the tie with a 1-0 advantage salvaged in the reverse tie, and a favourable result over the La Liga giants will earn them a maiden place in the quarterfinals.
Legit.ng earlier reported that Chelsea defender Thiago Silva has played with and against several top strikers in the world, but just 10 of them made lasting impacts on him.
The Brazilian joined the Blues as a free agent last summer and he has been impressive for the west London club who are fourth on the log.
With his career set to clock two decades next year, the legendary centre-back has now named the 10 best and most difficult players that I have had the chance to play against.
Oluwatomiwa is a sports editor with Legit.ng. He has over eight years of field and office experience in the media industry. He graduated from the Nigerian Institute of Journalism in 2014 with HND in Mass Communication. Connect with him on Twitter @TomiwaBabalola.
Source: Legit.ng
