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Transfer perfect: Erling Haaland’s move to Manchester City sets new standards

Dhe process seemed almost exaggeratedly conspiratorial. Borussia Dortmund announced on Monday that Erling Haaland would use the day off from training to “settle personal matters”. On Tuesday, the Belgian newspaper Nieuwsblad reported that the Norwegian striker had undergone the obligatory medical check-up at the Erasmus Hospital in Brussels. This was to avoid the stir that would have arisen if Haaland had flown to Manchester.

On Tuesday afternoon it was official, which was no longer a secret, but has been treated as such in the past few days: Haaland is moving to Manchester City for the coming season. The Bundesliga soccer club and the English Premier League club said that contractual details still had to be agreed.

Ferran Soriano, the managing director of the Premier League leaders and close confidant of coach Pep Guardiola, had previously informed BVB managing director Hans-Joachim Watzke that the English would activate the exit clause agreed in Haaland’s contract.

Haaland (right) played his penultimate Bundesliga game against Greuther Fürth

Credit: AFP/CHRISTOF STACHE

As a result, Dortmund’s hands were tied: the transfer took place for a fixed fee of 75 million euros. Dortmund’s sports director Sebastian Kehl had already announced in Sport1’s “double pass” on Sunday that the long-awaited transfer would probably take place this week. However, he had not yet mentioned the name of Manchester City.

Klopp impressed by Haaland transfer

In any case, it’s a change that makes you sit up and take notice – especially the competition from the English champions. “It won’t weaken her, definitely not,” said Jürgen Klopp. The German coach of Liverpool FC, who and his team are three points behind Citizen with two games left, fears that it will be even more difficult in the future to challenge their worst opponent for the title.

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Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool

“I think enough has been said about this transfer. I know there’s a lot of money talk out there but this transfer will set a new standard,” he told Sky UK. Klopp recently extended his contract with Liverpool until 2026. He did this in the knowledge “that City will not stop developing”.

In fact, it can be assumed that with Haaland, Guardiola’s team will become even more unpredictable for their opponents. The “Manchild”, as the 1.94 meter tall striker is often called in England, combines final strength with dynamism. “He has many strengths and works intensively on his weaknesses,” said BVB coach Marco Rose about Haaland, who switched from the Austrian first division club RB Salzburg to Dortmund in January 2019.

Insane goal rate

Since then he has scored 61 times in 66 Bundesliga games. If Haaland is used with a through pass and he has space, he can hardly be stopped. However, he also improved significantly in combination play and in headers during his time in Dortmund. “Will, quality and commitment” characterize him, says Rose.

“Erling is a goal machine. He will consistently be among the world’s top three strikers over the next few years,” said BVB defense chief Mats Hummels. It was therefore also clear that only a few clubs would be suitable for Haaland as the next stop. There was a bidding competition, but because of the huge sums that Haaland, his father Alf-Inge and his late advisor Mino Raiola are said to have called up, the field of participants was not particularly large.

FILES-FBL-SPORT-OBIT

Mino Raiola, who died in early May after a long illness, played a key role in the Haaland transfer

Credit: AFP/VALERY HACHE

FC Bayern and FC Barcelona, ​​who are said to have considered at least one commitment, were therefore never seriously involved. The same applied to Liverpool FC. “We’re not going there. The numbers that are in the room are crazy – they have nothing to do with them. No chance,” Klopp explained in an interview with “Sport-Bild” at the beginning of April.

Adeyemi als Haaland-Ersatz

In the end, only two interested parties remained with Manchester City and Real Madrid. However, the Spaniards, who also want to sign French international Kylian Mbappé for the coming season, did not see the acute need because of Karim Benzema’s continued strong development. With the fee and the salary, the total volume of the transfer should amount to 300 million euros.

However, it will not be easy for Dortmund to compensate for the future absence of their goalscorer. However, it is by no means the case that they were taken by surprise. “We’ve been playing football in Dortmund for 113 years and we’ve done 111 of those years without Erling Haaland,” Hans-Joachim Watzke told CNN. The managing director pointed out that it had already been possible to absorb the departure of well-known strikers on several occasions. “We had Robert Lewandowski and he left us in 2014. Then came Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and then Erling,” said Watzke. You can count on it: “We will find the next one 100 percent.”

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Schalke's Simon Terodde celebrates

In fact, Borussia have been looking for a center forward for some time, who should then form the new attack together with winger Karim Adeyemi. The 20-year-old was signed on Tuesday for a fee of around 30 million euros from where Haaland came from: Salzburg. Adeyemi signed a contract that runs until the summer of 2027.

On Saturday, when BVB plays the last Bundesliga game of the season against Hertha BSC, Haaland will wear the Dortmund jersey for the last time.

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