Journalist Evan reported that Dortmund swept rival Freiburg 5-1 on Friday night, with Haaland scoring twice. After the game, the sharpshooter did not smile. Former Norwegian international Foyot, who played in the Bundesliga, interviewed Haaland on behalf of Viaplay TV, and Haaland couldn't help but complain: "For the past six months, I have decided not to speak on these matters out of respect for Dortmund. But now the club is starting to put pressure on me and they want a decision. ”
Haaland is talking about his future plans. He has only been with Borussia Dortmund for two years, but as the Bundesliga's most watched superstar at the moment, speculation about Haaland's next stop has never stopped. Haaland has been silent for the past six months, while agent Rayola has never made a secret of putting the Norwegian in a big club shirt. In this case, Dortmund must have wanted to determine the will of the player earlier.
The incessant media coverage, the agent's positive actions, the club's thoughts and the lack of goals in the previous two consecutive rounds made Haaland's emotions explode after playing Freiburg. Dortmund chairman Váczk denied pressure, but at the same time responded: "Haaland is a professional player who always has to find time to talk about the future and he should understand that." "It's the price 21-year-old Haaland paid for his fame. After such complaints, Dortmund was less and less likely to leave Haaland. In the next six months, more big clubs will observe, contact and win him, and the Norwegian's desire to focus on football is doomed to be unattainable.
The situation changes, Haaland is destined to leave the team?
As Borussia Dortmund's main striker and Bundesliga super scorer, Haaland's lethality in front of goal is comparable to Bayern's striker Lewandowski. The difference is that Lewandowski is 33 years old and Haland is only 21 years old, and the age advantage gives him great potential. This is a player who can drive the European giants crazy. In fact, Haaland has shown a very high level in the Austrian arena, and when he leaves Salzburg in 2020, he will pay attention to a lot of big clubs. Borussia Dortmund won the competition unexpectedly, on the one hand they could provide Haaland with an absolute main position, and on the other hand, the other big teams did not do their best, after all, Haaland has not yet proved himself in the big five leagues.
When Haaland scored 15 league goals in the six months of his bundesliga landing, the big clubs' wait-and-see attitude towards him completely disappeared and replaced them with eager eyes. In the summer of 2020, the news that Real Madrid wanted to sign Haaland appeared in the Spanish media, less than six months after Haaland signed for Borussia Dortmund. Dortmund and Haaland were so happy with their cooperation that it was naturally impossible to choose to separate so early. Haaland is well aware that Borussia Dortmund has promised the ideal environment for him to adapt to the rhythm of the five leagues and improve further. The Bundesliga requires a lot of physical requirements and tactical coordination on players, the former allowing Haaland to play a physical advantage, while the latter is a kind of exercise for Haaland.
Last season was Haaland's first full season in the Bundesliga, scoring 41 goals in 41 games, cementing his foundation as a top striker. Last summer, Haaland was last publicly talking about transfer news in the media. At the time, The English media said Chelsea were willing to sign Haaland for a whopping €175 million, and Haaland responded: "It's a really staggering number for a player, seriously, I hope it's just a rumor. ”
In the end, Chelsea did not make an offer and other clubs remained silent for the time being. They know that dortmund will never release anyone unless they make a surprising offer at this time. However, under the epidemic, I am afraid that few clubs can meet Dortmund's expectations. Dortmund's resolute attitude blocked the covetousness of Haaland. Other clubs prefer to wait for the right moment: Haaland's liquidated damages clause is coming into effect this summer.
In 2013, Bayern signed Götze by activating liquidated damages, angering Dortmund's top brass, and chairman Wattsk vowed never to include liquidated damages in player contracts again. Two years ago, Borussia Dortmund had to self-destruct their promise in order to sign Haaland. This is Vátsk's helpless move, only by agreeing on a penalty to let Haaland see that the future of the big club will not encounter obstacles, the Norwegian can successfully sign. According to German media, the liquidated damages clause came into effect in the summer of 2022, amounting to around 75-90 million euros.
Impulsive or deliberate?
For the past six months, Haaland has remained silent about all transfer issues. At the same time he was in steady form on the field, with the league goal number rising to 15 after the match against Freiburg. Although he finished third on the top scorers list, behind Lewandowski and Hick, he made only 13 appearances and was more efficient at seizing opportunities. As the season enters the second half of the season, as haaland's liquidated damages come into effect, speculation about his future grows. Haaland naturally felt the pressure.
Speaking to Foyot, Haaland said: "The club started pushing me to make decisions, which meant I sometimes had to think about things off the pitch, they wanted an answer and I had to make a decision early. Like I said, the club put a lot of pressure on me and I had to accept it. Out of respect for the club and the fans, I wasn't going to say anything. Now the club is putting pressure on me, so it's time to say something. Haaland has spoken to Borussia Dortmund that he doesn't want to make a future decision too early: "I said at the beginning that I wanted to focus my mind on football so that I would have the best to play and not have something else on my mind. We're in a difficult phase, there are a lot of games, but now I can't get my full energy. ”
Haaland broke the six-month silence, both as an emotional vent and possibly as a transfer tactic. Haaland had not scored in two games before, and against Freiburg he broke the brief goal drought, but after a counter-attack in the 88th minute was judged to be offside, Haaland angrily smashed the ball against the lawn and was shown a yellow card by the referee. Apparently his mood was really bad during this time. Haaland's statement, on the other hand, was not entirely impulsive. Kickers pointed out that criticising the club would give Haaland more reasons to leave Dortmund, a hint to other clubs. Foyote's questions were almost an "assist" for Haaland to express his thoughts. His hometown media was the ideal platform for him to speak out, and Fjortoft and Haaland's family were good friends.
Haaland is somewhat at odds with his team's behavior. Haaland was silent on the transfer issue and wanted to focus on the football pitch. His agent has been sending another signal. Rayola traveled extensively across Europe to market Haaland. He told German media: "Haaland has a good chance of moving away in the summer. He certainly also has the opportunity to stay at Dortmund for a year, which is a theoretical possibility. Haaland and Dortmund's liquidated damages, which were supposed to be confidentiality clauses, became "open secrets" more than a year ago, and it is difficult to say that they were not the handiwork of the brokerage team. Haaland should have known that Raiola was one and the same person as himself, and that when Raiola was so active, Haaland could not stay out of the matter.
Dortmund prepared early
Dortmund disagreed with the idea of pressure. Chairman Wattsk said in an interview with Ruhr News: "Haaland is a young man with passion, he can say so, we are not angry. But he has to understand our thinking, and we can't wait until the end of May. In response to the West German Report visit, Vátsk added: "We have absolutely not put pressure on Haaland. We have neither negotiated nor finalized any time. But we can't wait until May, and that's what we told him. I think he was a little annoyed maybe for the sake of the yellow card. As a professional player, he has to understand this and he always has to talk about the future. ”
Dortmund did not give up on his efforts to keep Haaland, at least to get him to play for the team for another year. Manager Zolke said before Christmas: "Seriously, I don't know what the future holds for Haaland. We don't have to sell him, especially not for financial reasons. Team leader Kyle said in an interview at SkyLight earlier this month: "Our plan is to find a point in time to sit down with Haaland's team to discuss. There is no way to say what the future will be, and we will try to negotiate a result. We haven't talked about his transfer fee right now, and we don't have a schedule. If we can keep him, it will be a good thing for the whole Bundesliga, but in the end it is up to Haaland to decide. ”
After hearing Haaland's speech on Friday, manager Zorck was surprised: "I didn't expect him to say that. Dortmund didn't set any deadlines for him, didn't finalize any time, or even any negotiations. We're going to want to sit together and talk about it in the future, which is normal, and I think you can understand it. ”
The club's top brass denied putting pressure on Haaland, but they really couldn't wait long. In fact, Dortmund began to plan for Haaland's possible departure last season, they have paid a lot of money for striker Mullen signed from Eindhoven, and the Netherlands international can play both wingers and centre-forwards like Sancho, which is an important part of the team's future forward plan. It's just that Mullen has scored just three goals in 18 league appearances, a far cry from Haaland's efficiency.
Borussia Dortmund will eventually have to bet on the young striker. For example, Adeyemmi, who was selected for the German national team, is likely to become the next striker to switch from Salzburg to Dortmund, of course, compared with Haaland, Adeyemmi is very young. Rennes' 19-year-old French striker Equitic is another candidate, scoring eight goals in 17 Ligue 1 games, which is quite outstanding as a striker for a mid-range club, and his potential is also great, and the French media even compared him to Mbappe. Former France international Miku praised: "I haven't seen a striker of this style in a long time. The way he runs reminds me of a great player, Trezeguet. "But whether it's getting Adeyami or Ekitik, Dortmund needs to be patient and not expect them to be the next Haaland immediately.