Fabrizio Romano reveals why €26m striker was “not convinced” about joining Chelsea this summer | OneFootball

Conrad Harder wasn’t convinced about joining Chelsea this summer as he felt he would end up sitting on the bench according to Fabrizio Romano.

In light of Liam Delap’s injury Chelsea reportedly made enquiries for Harder, but the Denmark under-21 international ended up joining Bundesliga outfit RB Leipzig.

Delap’s injury threw Chelsea into disarray, and they first tried to cancel Nicolas Jackson’s move to Bayern Munich, before settling on recalling Marc Guiu from his loan at Sunderland.

Conrad Harder wasn’t convinced about joining Chelsea

Chelsea had been previously linked with Harder, whilst the Blues are also said to have given consideration to signing Strasbourg striker Emanuel Emegha.

Harder played back-up to Viktor Gyokeres at Sporting Lisbon last season and scored five goals in 28 league appearances.

Harder joined RB Leipzig despite interest from Chelsea. (Photo by Carlos Rodrigues/Getty Images)

The 20-year-old also had interest from AC Milan before opting to make the switch to the Bundesliga, and Romano has provided an update on Chelsea’s interest.

“Harder was not convinced about moving to Stamford Bridge,” he wrote in his Give Me Sport column.

“Even with maximum respect for Chelsea and their project, Harder felt that a move to the Blues was probably going to end up with him sitting on the bench in the upcoming weeks, after Delap’s return.

“Harder wanted to move in order to play, be a starter, find more game time and feel like an important player and not just a backup for a few weeks.

“This is why he turned down the possibility of negotiating with Chelsea in order to join RB Leipzig; where Xavi Simons, Benjamin Sesko and Lois Openda all left the club, and he can have the chance to play and develop.”

Chelsea turn to Marc Guiu

Ultimately the Blues recalled Guiu who they signed from Barcelona last summer for just £5m from his loan spell at Sunderland.

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Guiu only played 13 minutes in the first three league games for the Black Cats, but did score in their Carabao Cup second round tie.

Last season Guiu made just three Premier League appearances, although injury played a part in that, and it will be interesting to see if Enzo Maresca trusts him more this time.