Chelsea transfer target Erling Haaland is very much a man in
demand, but could there be better options out there ahead of the
summer window?
The 20-year-old has emerged as one of the hottest properties in
European football, having compiled a staggering goalscoring
record for Borussia Dortmund.
The Norway striker has scored 49 goals in 52 games since moving
to the Bundesliga from Austrian club RB Salzburg in January 2020.
Speculation over Haaland’s future has continued to spiral on the
back of his representatives being spotted in Spain amid proposed
transfer talks with La Liga giants Barcelona and Real Madrid, while
similar discussions are thought to have taken place in the UK with
four Premier League clubs, including Chelsea.
There is absolutely no doubt the Dortmund frontman is a hugely-
prolific and prodigious talent.
However, with his sought-after services expected to command a
nine-figure sum, football.london has picked out some cheaper
alternative options.
In order to offer insight on our selection criteria, we have focused
solely on shot conversion, calculated by dividing the number of
shots taken by the number of goals scored. The higher the rate, the
more accurate a player has been in terms of finishing.
As things stand, Haaland has scored 21 goals in the Bundesliga
this season from 69 attempts (30.44 per cent), while his current
value, according to Transfermarkt, is £99million.
Staggeringly enough, four players with an even better strike-rate
than the Norwegian are currently being priced up at distinctly more
affordable amount.
Max Kruse (Union Berlin)
He may be entering the twilight of his career, at 33, but it’s
impossible to ignore just how clinical Kruse has been in front of
goal this campaign.
His 10 goals for surprise European hopefuls Union Berlin have
come in 16 games – offering up a comparable rate to every
Bundesliga striker aside from Robert Lewandowski (Bayern
Munich), Andre Silva (Frankfurt) and Haaland.
Where the veteran does outshine them, though, is in the goals per
attempt column, where he boasts an impressive 45.46 per cent
conversion rate.
Transfer value: £5.4m
Simy (Crotone)
Sitting in second place behind Kruse on this list is towering
Nigerian striker Simy, who stands at 6ft 6in.
Equally as colossal is his conversion rate in Serie A – made even
more eye-catching by the fact Crotone are rooted to the foot of the
standings, having only won four games all season.
Simy, 28, trails only Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus) and Romelu
Lukaku (Inter Milan) in the quest for the golden boot, but his 16
goals have come from just 43 shots – giving him an impressive
strike-rate of 37.21 per cent.
Transfer value: £4m
Mattia Destro (Genoa)
A little further down the overall goalscoring charts in Italy is Genoa
striker Destro, who joined the Serie A club from Bologna ahead of
the 2020/21 campaign.
It’s been a profitable first year for him, too, with 10 goals to show
from his 23 appearances so far.
Similarly to Simy, the 30-year-old Italian has been much more
accurate than some of the more high-profile frontmen in that
division, needing only 28 attempts to reach double figures (35.71
per cent).
Transfer value: £2.25m
Franck Kessie (AC Milan)
Strictly speaking, Kessie is a midfield player. But as any Chelsea
supporter will know, regular goals from the engine room are just as
important as in attacking quarters.
Club legend Frank Lampard remains, of course, the record
goalscorer at Stamford Bridge and Kessie has shown a similar
knack of arriving in the right place at the right time with Milan.
Even more impressively, his ten goals so far in Serie A this season
have come from just 29 attempts. That’s enough to place him
fourth on this list (34.48 per cent).
Transfer value: £45m
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