RB Salzburg striker Erling Haaland has been spotted in Dortmund on Wednesday, making a winter transfer more likely.
RB Salzburg were eliminated from the UEFA Champions League by Liverpool on Tuesday. On Wednesday, 19-year-old centre-forward Erling Haaland is working on his future. According to local newspaper Ruhr Nachrichten and local radio station Radio 91.2, the Norwegian jet-setted to the Ruhr city.
Dortmund in dire need of a striker
At the BVB’s club member’s assembly in November, CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke made the front office’s assessment public. The 60-year-old said then: “We have also discussed our transfer policy. And while not every of our newly added players has reached his full potential yet, we came to the conclusion that we’d do most things again. But we have also conceded that we made one error — Michael Zorc and Sebastian Kehl will confirm that — we definitely should have signed a second number 9,” adding: “We are also fully aware that there are arguments against a second striker. Bayern Munich also only have one. There’s always the risk that both neutralise each other. But the bottom line is: We made the wrong assessment.”
Haaland could be the ideal candidate for the Black and Yellows to rectify their mistake. According to Ruhr Nachrichten, the 1.94 m tall striker and his agent Mino Raiola arrived at Dortmund Airport on Wednesday and were picked up by a Borussia Dortmund employee.
Can Dortmund sign Haaland?
Haaland has scored 28 goals in 22 games this season, including eight goals in six UCL group-stage games. Given that he is scoring at the ridiculous, and unsustainable, rate of a goal every 52 minutes, most European top clubs will be in pursuit of the number 9.
Ruhr Nachrichten report that Bayern Munich are not eyeing his signature but Salzburg sister club RB Leipzig definitely are.
Dortmund will, if reports of a €20m buy-out clause in Haaland’s contract hold true, be able to afford the transfer fee but might still be trumped by Premier League teams in terms of offered salary. So the deal will mostly depend on whether the young Norwegian sees his next step in the Bundesliga.
Haaland would significantly bolster Dortmund’s attack, which right now consists of 26-year-old Paco Alcácer, who has already missed seven out of 23 games due to injury. At a moment where Dortmund coach Lucien Favre appears to have turned the corner with three wins in a row, the addition of the 19-year-old striker could be another boost in the close Bundesliga title race after the winter break.
With BVB’s winter training camp starting on January 3rd, there should be some urgency on the club’s side to get the deal done as soon as possible.
