Thomas Tuchel refused to rule out a swoop for Erling Haaland as transfer talks continue for the Borussia Dortmund striker.

Chelsea are desperate to land a new No9 this summer to bolster their attack – with the Norwegian, 20, their primary target.

Haaland’s dad Alf-Inge and agent Mino Raiola – who could bag up to £25million from any deal – have held discussions with Real Madrid and Barcelona in Spain before heading to England to meet with Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool.

But Tuchel did not give anything away when quizzed on any potential meeting between Haaland’s representatives and the Blues.

The German said: “I will not answer that, out of respect for the player and for Borussia Dortmund.

“He’s a Borussia Dortmund player, and of course there’s big news around him and his agent. And it seems like they are creating a race for the player.

“But still everybody needs to accept, and I will fully accept, that he is a Borussia Dortmund player, a very promising player of course.

“But with respect to the situation, he’s not in our squad, he’s not in our club so there’s no comment on anything else regarding him.”