Haaland Transfer Saga the Latest in a Series of Image Problems for Borussia Dortmund
Erling Braut Haaland is only 20-years old but is already regarded as one of Europe’s top strikers. His breakthrough performances came at the top European stage in the 2019/20 Champions League group stages and since then he has blossomed into as fearsome a striker as anyone around.
His RB Salzburg side almost came through in a group with Napoli and Liverpool, with Haaland scoring eight goals in their six games — becoming the first ever teenager to score in five consecutive matches in the competition’s history.
The Norwegian moved to Borussia Dortmund at the start of 2020 and his career trajectory has grown and grown with each goal — 34 in 36 games. He joined Dortmund under intense transfer speculation. The fee was agreed by an extremely low £17 million release clause, but it was the destination that had everyone wondering what was going to happen next.
Haaland opted for the German club over RB Leipzig and even Manchester United. The Red Devils were believed to be turned off the deal due to the insertion of a future release clause in Haaland’s contract.
However, given Haaland’s form since then, and United’s underperforming strikers, that now looks a poor decision. The existence of a release clause doesn’t necessarily mean it will be used, but rather if United had performed well that too could’ve convinced Haaland to stay.
Turning down the chance to sign him now looks like throwing away pole position at the Monaco Grand Prix and instead fancying your chances from fifth or sixth on the grid. Victory is still possible, but it’ll take a lot of luck and, in this case, money to pull it off.
But for Dortmund, they have not performed well enough to convince the striker to stay. Haaland joined the club in the middle of a title race that they inevitably lost to Bayern Munich.
This season they are nowhere near the top of the table and are even in danger of missing out on Champions League football for next season.
This has ramped up speculation that he will now leave Dortmund in the Summer. The international break has seen his agent, Mino Raiola, flaunt Haaland’s availability on a tour across Europe’s biggest clubs.
The notorious ‘super-agent’ has been seen in Madrid and Barcelona to meet with representatives from both of El Clasicos two clubs. Mundo Deportivo today reported that he is also on his way to England to talk to Chelsea and the two Manchester clubs.
Dortmund insist the striker is not for sale and that his release clause doesn’t become active until 2022, but with the club performing so poorly this season, and given their reputation as Europe’s most prominent stepping stone club, why would Haaland want to stay?
This question becomes doubly relevant if they do in fact fail to qualify for the 2021/22 Champions League.
Pep Guardiola and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer have both been coy in response to questions around signing Haaland.
“As I said, we focus on the ones who are here and even though I worked with Erling it’s not right for me as Man United manager to talk about Erling. I can talk about him as an ex-coach of his, but he will make his own mind up,” said Solskjaer on Friday afternoon.
Guardiola, now with room in his squad for a new striker following the news that Sergio Aguero will leave the club at the end of the season, even went so far as to suggest the club won’t be signing any striker this Summer.
Although, given Manchester City’s financial strength through their Abu Dhabi royal family state-funded transfer budget, it is hard to believe the club won’t be active in replacing the Argentine.
Although, given Manchester City’s financial strength through their Abu Dhabi royal family state-funded transfer budget, it is hard to believe the club won’t be active in replacing the Argentine.
Although, given Manchester City’s financial strength through their Abu Dhabi royal family state-funded transfer budget, it is hard to believe the club won’t be active in replacing the Argentine.
Europe’s biggest clubs are circling around Dortmund all in a bid to win the services of this seemingly once in a generation talent. But it’s not just Haaland who these clubs could be after, come the Summer.
Jadon Sancho was heavily linked with a big money move to Manchester United last Summer and the Englishman has continued to play well this season.
While he’s not performed to quite the same level as his previous two seasons — six goals and nine assists in 2020/21 is well down on the 17 and 16 he earned in 2019/20 — yet he remains one of the most exciting young players in the game.
Sancho is also second in the Bundesliga for Shot Creating Actions per 90, with 5.29, and has a decent non penalty xG per shot at 0.12 — meaning each shot has an almost one in every eight chance of resulting in a goal.
Yet despite the club having such entertaining and exciting young players they find themselves down in fifth in the Bundesliga table. They are still in the Champions League quarter finals, but a tough tie to Manchester City awaits and they are very much the underdogs going into those two legs.
Dortmund sacked their coach Lucien Favre last December and interim manager Edin Terzic hasn’t been able to improve the side significantly.
There is a sense now that Dortmund have missed an opportunity. They have a squad filled with some of the top upcoming talent in all of Europe and yet they’ve achieved nothing with it. It poses the question, what is the point of their current project?
These players will no doubt be flipped and sold for massive profits, but what good is that money if it can’t be spent on bringing in players as good?
How long must a club hoover up all of Europe’s young talent in an effort to sell them for huge profits before that money can be used to build a squad capable of competing for the biggest trophies long-term?
Monaco managed to win a Ligue 1 title with their once in a generation squad in 2016/17, and reached a Champions League semi final to boot. Ajax too reached a semi final, with only a last gasp winner from Lucas Moura keeping them away from the final.
Dortmund have been in the shadows of Bayern Munich ever since Jurgen Klopp left the club in 2015. They pushed their rivals to a title race in Favre’s first season, but a humiliating 5–0 defeat in Der Klassiker sunk any hope they had of taking back the Bundesliga title.
This neurosis over Munich has developed into a reputation around Europe that Dortmund aren’t winners. The fact that they are fifth with the likes of Haaland, Sancho, Gio Reyna and Jude Bellingham all in the side hasn’t helped that distinction.
That Raiola is courting one of their players on a trek across Europe does nothing but enhance that image of Dortmund, who aren’t publicly doing anything to convince Haaland that he should stay at the club.
If the Norweigen leaves in the Summer after only 18 months in Dortmund then that signals a massive wasted opportunity for BVB.
The tie against Manchester City offers a chance to shed that title among Europe’s elite clubs as the ultimate also-rans. It now also feels the last chance for this great promising side to fulfil anything together before Haaland and Sancho jet off in the Summer for pastures new and more glorious.
