Borussia Dortmund have turned down Chelsea's proposal of using either Tammy Abraham or Callum Hudson-Odoi as a makeweight in their bid to sign striker Erling Haaland.
As first revealed by 90min, Chelsea are readying a monster bid for the Norway striker but they hope to avoid paying the full £150m it would take to get a deal done.
The idea of using Abraham as part of the offer has been around for a while now and does make some sense. The 23-year-old has struggled for minutes under Thomas Tuchel and is likely to be sold this summer, and The Mirror revealed late on Wednesday that Chelsea had rejected offers for Abraham in the hope of using him as part of the Haaland bid.
According to Sky Sports Germany, Chelsea have reached out to Dortmund over the idea of using Abraham in the bid and they have also offered up winger Callum Hudson-Odoi, but the German side aren't interested.
Dortmund are adamant that they will not sell Haaland at all this summer and they plan to retain that stance unless a bid of around £150m arrives.
90min understands that Dortmund have previously expressed an interest in both Abraham and Hudson-Odoi but have no desire to take on their wages.
If Dortmund won't take the players, Chelsea are expected to look for buyers from elsewhere. Abraham has attracted plenty of interest from West Ham and Aston Villa, although his £40m price tag has held things up somewhat.
It is also thought that Chelsea will look to cut ties with winger Hakim Ziyech after just one season. The 28-year-old struggled in his debut year, starting just 15 Premier League games, seven of which came under Thomas Tuchel.
AC Milan have been tipped to move for Ziyech, who could be one of several Chelsea players to end up at San Siro this summer.
Fikayo Tomori has already sealed a permanent move to San Siro and is close to being followed by Olivier Giroud, and there has also been contact over midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko.
Source : 90min