Five-time Premier League champions Chelsea have reportedly joined the keenly contested race to sign highly-rated Red Bull Salzburg striker Erling Haaland.

According to the Irish Examiner, Chelsea are in the running to sign the 19-year-old attacker after their transfer ban was lifted last week.

Chelsea were initially slapped with a ban from signing players for two transfer windows by FIFA who found them culpable in dealings relating to underage players.

The West London giants took their case to the Appeals Committee of FIFA and it was thrown out before the final bus stop of CAS was employed by Chelsea.

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CAS upheld the FIFA ruling partially before the sentence was reduced from two transfer windows to just one thus paving the way for Chelsea to sign players like Erling Haaland in the January transfer window.

Erling Haaland is one of the biggest young players in world football and the Norwegian is a target for big European clubs like Barcelona and Real Madrid.

Manchester United, RB Leipzig, and Arsenal have all been mentioned as well.

Erling Haaland has scored a whopping 28 goals in 21 games in all competitions for his team including eight goals in the Champions League since the start of this season.

Chelsea can sign players now after the saw the end of their transfer ban thanks to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) who reduced their ban from two transfer windows to just one transfer window.

With the Blues free to sign new players, the Irish Examiner said that they have five transfer options to consider ahead of the next transfer window next month.

The five players under consideration at Chelsea include Wilfried Zaha of Ivory Cast and Crystal Palace, Jadon Sancho of England and Borussia Dortmund, Ben Chilwell of England and Chelsea, Erling Haaland of Norway and Red Bull Salzburg as well as Nathan Ake of the Netherlands and Bournemouth.

Borussia Dortmund winger Jadon Sancho has set the German Bundesliga alight with goals and assists and its not surprising that other English clubs like Liverpool and Manchester United are also interested in his signature.

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Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha would be hoping to finally get his big transfer with Chelsea keen to sign the £70m-rated player.

Nathan Ake was at Chelsea before he was sold to Bournemouth in 2017 after his successful loan spell with the Cherries.

Ben Chilwell has been part of the Leicester City success story this season but Chelsea manager Frank Lampard is in need of a new left-back and has made him a strong target ahead of next summer.

Erling Haaland of Red Bull Salzburg is one of the leading goalscorers in European football this season.

Europa League holders Chelsea will have to contend with the threat of another Premier League side in their bid to sign Brentford winger Said Benrahma.

Chelsea have a keen interest in the Algerian international player but they are not the only Premier League club interested in him.

According to Sky Sports, Aston Villa are also monitoring the winger ahead of the winter transfer market which opens again in the next few weeks.

Said Benrahma is a key performer for Brentford and he has scored three goals and also provided three assists in 12 league starts and four substitute appearances this season as his London club tries to chase Premier League promotion.

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In the last campaign, Said Benrahma scored 12 goals and also provided 10 assists in 19 league starts and nine substitute appearances for Brentford.

Chelsea and Aston Villa are expected to battle each other for his signature since the former can now sign players.

The Blues can sign players in the January transfer window after their transfer ban was lifted.

The Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) delivered the verdict on the two-window transfer ban imposed on Chelsea by FIFA on Friday.

The transfer ban was partially upheld and changed to a window ban which has already been served in the summer.

Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy has edged clear in the Premier League Golden Boot race after his brace in the Aston Villa game on Saturday evening.

With the help of the two goals against former European champions Aston Villa, Jamie Vardy was able to stretch his lead ahead of Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham.

Jamie Vardy started the weekend with 14 goals in the Premier League, while his Chelsea counterpart Tammy Abraham had 11 goals.

Tammy Abraham was not able to add to his goal tally at Everton despite playing the entire duration of the league game which ended in a 3-1 win for the Toffees at home in the first game of week 16 matches.

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On his part, Jamie Vardy was in very good form as he scored the first and last goal of the game for Leicester City who thrashed hosts Aston Villa 4-1 to close the gap on league leaders Liverpool to eight points.

Kelechi Iheanacho gave the assist for the first goal of the game scored by Vardy before he turned scorer off a James Maddison to double the Foxes advantage with four first-half minutes left.

Aston Villa playmaker Jack Grealish halved the deficit for the home side at the end of the first half but Leicester went on to score their superiority further with second-half goals from Jonny Evans and Jamie Vardy who now has 16 goals in the league.

Chelsea have reportedly contacted Barcelona winger Ousmane Dembele over a potential move to Stamford Bridge next summer.

This is according to the report from Spanish media outlet El Desmarque which said that the Blues have sounded out his representatives over a move to West London with the reigning Europa League champions expected to be active in the transfer market after their ban was overturned partially last week.

Chelsea had been slapped with a two-window transfer ban by world football’s governing body FIFA earlier this year for breaking the rules relating to the transfer of young players.

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The FIFA ruling was appealed by Chelsea and subsequently thrown out by the body’s Appeal Committee thereby leading the Blues to take the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS).

According to the CAS verdict delivered on Friday, Chelsea had the ban reduced from two windows to just one window which has already been served in the summer.

Chelsea can now sign players as from the winter transfer market which opens again next month.

Barcelona star Ousmane Dembele has endured a frustrating time at the Nou Camp since his transfer to the club in 2017.

His form has been affected negatively by several injury problems.

Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho is reportedly interested in a deal to bring AS Roma striker Edin Dzeko back to the Premier League.

This is according to the Daily Mirror which disclosed that Jose Mourinho has requested for information on the player as he searches for a backup striker to ease the pressure on Harry Kane.

England international captain Harry Kane has been the main striker at Tottenham Hotspur for over five years and new manager Jose Mourinho is keen to give him a helping hand in the form of former Manchester City player Dzeko.

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AS Roma striker Edin Dzeko was part of the Manchester City team that won the first ever Premier League title for the Citizens under the stewardship of Italian tactician Roberto Mancini during the 2011/12 campaign.

According to the report from the Daily Mirror, ex-Chelsea and Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho has sent a trusted ally to get one or two things on Edin Dzeko.

Harry Kane showed that he can cope with the workload at Spurs after the Englishman scored two goals to lead his team to a 5-0 win over Burnley at home in the Premier League.

Edin Dzeko has two years on his AS Roma contract at the moment.

Champions League campaigners Chelsea have concluded plans to give defender Reece James a new contract that will secure his long-term future at the club.

This is according to the publication from the Daily Mirror which said that club bosses have been impressed with Reece James who broke into the first team this season and that they are prepared to offer him a new contract that will see him earn more money.

Recce James came through the ranks at Chelsea before making his first team debut for the club this term.

The young English right-back impressed a great deal while he was on loan at English Championship side Wigan Athletic last season.

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Recce James was one of the best players in the English Championship last season.

He has made 14 appearances in all competitions for Chelsea this term with him starting five of the last six games at right-back.

Chelsea manager Frank Lampard has had to turn to the young players since the start of this campaign mainly because of the transfer ban imposed on the club and Reece James has benefited immensely.

The Blues have been freed from their transfer ban by the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) last week.

Reece James currently has a Chelsea contract that runs until 2022.

The Premier League duo of Chelsea and Manchester United have received a huge boost in their pursuit of highly rated England international Jadon Sancho.

This is after it was revealed that Premier League champions Manchester City are not interested in re-signing the young English winger.

Jadon Sancho plays his club football for German Bundesliga outfit Borussia Dortmund at the moment and he joined the 1997 Champions League winners from Manchester City for a fee of around £8m in 2017.

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There was a buyback clause in the contract that took Jadon Sancho from Manchester City to Borussia Dortmund two years ago and that gave the Premier League champions first refusal on him if he were to leave the German club.

Manchester City are not interested in re-signing their former player from Borussia Dortmund thus paving the way for interested clubs like Chelsea and Manchester United to sign him.

Jadon Sancho is an important player for Borussia Dortmund as they chase down the pacesetters like Borussia Moenchengladbach and RB Leipzig at the top of the league table in the German top flight.

The England international scored twice for Borussia Dortmund in their last league game which was a 5-0 win over lowly Paderborn on Saturday.