Football: Haaland opens tug of war for transfer

“For the past six months I’ve decided not to say anything out of respect for Dortmund. Now the club have started pressuring me to make a decision. But all I want is to play football,” the 21-year-old, whose star had once risen in Salzburg, vented his displeasure at the club leadership’s demand to clarify his future by March after two goals against Freiburg on Saturday. “You want an answer. So it’s time to get things done. It means something is going to happen now,” Haaland said.

Due to an exit clause, Haaland can leave Borussia Dortmund this summer for a fee of 75 million euros despite a contract that runs until 2024. It is doubtful that, according to the Norwegian, the first talks between Haaland, his advisor Mino Raiola and Dortmund in January will take place in a relaxed atmosphere. Haaland does not want to break a decision over his knee. As a team, you are currently in a “difficult phase. I want to focus on football. Because then I’m at my best. Not when other things are on my mind.”

A freak out two weeks ago in the 2-2 draw against Eintracht Frankfurt, which was unusual for the 21-year-old, showed how much the issue is straining Haaland’s nerves. When Haaland was pushed by ÖFB team player Martin Hinteregger after the late Dortmund equalizer, the Norwegian insulted the Carinthian loudly and audibly with the words, which were not ready for printing: “Fuck you idiot! Fucking idiot!” In stoppage time, Haaland also took on Frankfurt’s double goal scorer Rafael Borre. After being kicked several times by him, the 21-year-old Norwegian positioned himself in front of Borre, first punched his chest and then grabbed between his legs.

Planning security necessary

At Borussia Dortmund, they reacted irritated to Haaland’s “Wut-Interview” with former Rapidler Jan-Age Fjörtoft, according to the “Bild” newspaper, but they also tried not to exaggerate the matter further. “There are no problems with him. He’s young, he’s allowed to do that,” said BVB managing director Hans-Joachim Watzke, who hasn’t given up hope of an early extension with the striker, who has been courted by several top European clubs from England to Spain: “If it happens that he stays , we are very happy.”

Haaland’s accusation of being put under pressure is considered exaggerated at Dortmund: “There are currently no talks or appointments, so I can’t understand it,” said Watzke. However, the Borussia boss admitted that the club could not wait until around May for reasons of planning security: “That will make sense to him. As a professional, he also has to understand that at some point you will talk about the future.”

The long-time captain and current sports director Michael Zorc reacted similarly to the accusation of setting a deadline. “But it’s also clear that we don’t want to wait until the summer to know what his decision will be,” said Zorc. His designated successor Sebastian Kehl took the same line: “Because he is so important to us, we have to be able to plan with certainty from a certain point. How am I supposed to move forward with my squad planning, how we can replace an Erling Haaland, if we don’t see a trend at a certain point in time, whether the player still wants to stay at Borussia Dortmund or not. That’s just legitimate, that’s super professional.”

Dortmund coach remains calm

In any case, before the cup duel in Hamburg’s Millerntor Stadium in St. Pauli, Haaland’s coach Marko Rose showed little concern that the recent excitement about Dortmund striker Erling Haaland could have a negative impact on his team’s performance. “It’s not a big issue for us. This situation is not new that there is constant speculation. So I’m really relaxed there,” said the former Salzburg coach.

For Rose, the topic is being artificially boiled up because it is such a coveted striker: “The fact that the topic is being made so big has to do with media reporting. I spoke to Erling yesterday – about football. That’s the only thing that interests me. He’s looking forward to the cup game.” Rose will also need a fully concentrated Haaland against St. Pauli. Because the Kiez-Club was the team of the year in the second division in the 2021 calendar year with 75 points in 40 games – and is the first on the rise. Another, if not quite as prominent, top scorer played a large part in this: Ex-ÖFB team kicker Guido Burgstaller has scored 16 times in 21 competitive games for St. Pauli this year.

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