Erling Haaland has proved over the past 12 months that he’s the best young striker on the planet.The 20-year-old, who recently won the prestigious Golden Boy award for 2020, scored 29 goals in 27 matches for Red Bull Salzburg before sealing a £17.1 million move to Borussia Dortmund last January.The prolific Norwegian is currently averaging a goal a game in Germany at the moment. In his first 35 appearances, Haaland has netted the same number of goals - including 25 in 26 Bundesliga games.It’s no wonder, then, that most of Europe’s top clubs are being linked with the 6ft 4in starlet.One of those clubs is Chelsea, who are reportedly prepared to smash their transfer record in order to sign the Real Madrid, Barcelona and Manchester United target.p1esan0lvicqsprdnntpn7pa8b.jpgThis is according to The Athletic - per The Sun - who claim Chelsea are ‘determined’ to sign Haaland at the end of the current campaign.Haaland has a £66.6 million release clause in his contract but that cannot be activated until the end of the 2021-22 season.This means Chelsea will need to pay over that fee if they wish to land his services in the summer. The Sun say it’s reported that it would cost at least £91 million to sign Haaland on a permanent basis this year.p1esan1cvuuki1618pe1l54qjd.jpgThe Blues’ current record signing is goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga, who cost £71.6 million in 2018.However, spending £90+ million on Haaland could be a smart investment. This is a kid who appears to possess all the tools required to become one of the best strikers of his generation.But why would Haaland choose to sign for Chelsea over, say, Real Madrid or Barcelona?Well, there might be one reason: Chelsea’s manager.p1esan6f2ltk1145q1m4c1fv51khvf.jpgWe know that Haaland is a big Frank Lampard fan after a Q&A session from last year.Haaland was asked by ESPN: “If you could play with any player that’s retired, who would it be?”Ronaldo? Ronaldinho? Zinedine Zidane? Thierry Henry? So many choices - but Haaland went for Lampard.Watch the clip here…

That gives Chelsea plenty of incentive to stick with Lampard.

Sacking the Englishman might reduce their chances of luring Haaland to Stamford Bridge quite considerably.