Chelsea continues to search for a No. 9 in the summer transfer window, with Erling Haaland and Robert Lewandowski their top targets.

Just a day after the Dortmund phenom basically shut down any possibility of leaving Signal Iduna, Bayern president Herbert Hainer has also made it clear that Lewandowski will not be leaving the German champions, via Goal:

“Firstly, in my opinion, Lewandowski is best striker in the world. We are so happy that we have him in our team.

“He still has two more years on his contract. He will definitely play those with Bayern Munich. I said it already a few weeks ago – I could imagine him staying with us for even longer. He will honour his contract.

“He will definitely play the next two seasons here in Bayern Munich.”

Chelsea will be extremely disappointed to hear this, but it did always seem unlikely Lewandowski would leave Bayern so abruptly. With Haaland and Lewa likely to stay put, Thomas Tuchel and the Blues board will have to look elsewhere for striker reinforcements.

They're on the verge of securing a swap deal for Sevilla center-back Jules Kounde, with Kurt Zouma expected to head the other way. However, another proven goal-scorer is really what they need. Chelsea isn't afraid to splash the cash on Haaland specifically, but Dortmund just simply isn't budging. That makes total sense, considering the side just lost Jadon Sancho to Manchester United as well.

It's not exactly the end of the world if Chelsea doesn't bring in another striker, though. Timo Werner should be a lot more comfortable in his second season, while the likes of Mason Mount, Kai Havertz, and Hakim Ziyech are all capable. But in order for the Blues to become legitimate Premier League title contenders, another lethal finisher is a necessity.