Chelsea are preparing to break their transfer record in the summer in a bid to sign Borussia Dortmund star Erling Haaland, according to the Athletic.

The west London club spent big at the start of the season, bringing in Hakim Ziyech, Timo Werner, Ben Chilwell, Thiago Silva, Kai Havertz and Edouard Mendy for a total of more than £200m.

After being subject to a transfer ban in his first season in charge, manager Frank Lampard was able to splash the cash, but the Blues have not had a great start to the campaign and currently sit in seventh.

The club are having problems in their attack with Timo Werner, Tammy Abraham and Olivier Giroud not living to expectation.

According to the report, Haaland has a release clause in his contract which would allow him to leave if a club tables an offer of €70m (£66.6m) but it will not become active until 2022.

However, Chelsea are willing to pay a premium this summer, believing that other clubs who are interested in Haaland have been hit hard by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and are waiting until 2022 to try and sign him for the cheaper price.