With several interested knocking on the door, the club will not make things easy for the signing of Erling Haaland
Borussia Dortmund’s management has put a selling price on striker Erling Haaland with several clubs interested in acquiring the Norwegian at the Summer Market. The Bavarian club, sources told ESPN, would part with the Norwegian, one of the most sought after players in world football, in exchange for 180 million euros (212 MDD).
Haaland has quickly positioned himself as a Bundesliga star by scoring 49 goals in the same number of matches after his arrival from FC Salzburg in January 2020. He has scored 32 goals in 31 appearances this season, including 10 goals in six Champions League games, and his agent, Mino Raiola, has said that 10 clubs they are in a position to sign him.
The striker moved to Dortmund last year amid great interest from Manchester United, But the Bundesliga team managed to close a deal after agreeing to include a termination clause in their contract. This clause is active until the summer of 2022. Clubs can sign Haaland this summer, but the € 180 million Dortmund are asking for represents a loss-making premium before the clause goes into effect next year.
Dortmund underlined their stance on their stars last summer when United tried to negotiate for a lower price for the English international Jadon Sancho. The Premier League team tried to convince BVB to sell Sancho for less than € 120 million, but Dortmund refused to negotiate.
The same stance will take over Dortmund’s board this summer for Haaland, sources told ESPN, To an extent that is designed to warn European heavyweights not to bid. United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Barcelona i Bayern Munich have different levels of interest in the Norwegian international, but in a transfer market affected by the coronavirus pandemic, Dortmund expects their € 180 million valuation to keep Haaland at the club for another year.
Sources have told ESPN that the main figures of Chelsea believed they could tempt Dortmund to make a deal this summerBut that was before the Bundesliga team’s position on Haaland was clarified. Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has long been an admirer of the 20-year-old, but the club’s latest financial records show that revenue fell 7% and profits went up. decrease by 7%, and Solskjaer admitted that the club will have to be “realistic” in terms of transfers.
For his part, the new president of Barcelona, Joan Laporta, is eager to turn Haaland into the cornerstone of his second term at the club.But with Barça in debt for 1.1 billion euros, a move of 180 million euros looks very difficult.
Laliga president Javier Tebas has said that a “magic trick” would be needed for Barça or Real Madrid to sign Haaland given the sums involved, And sources told ESPN that Manchester City are surprised by optimistic reports in Spain about the hopes of both teams to sign him because they believe they are in a stronger position to get him signed.
Dortmund are having trouble in the Bundesliga this season despite the brilliance of Haaland, with the club in a battle to qualify for the Champions League the season that under interim coach Edin Terzic. The BVB is four points away from Eintracht Frankfurt and the meeting between the two teams at the Westfalenstadion on 3 April will go a long way in determining who will take part in the most important club tournament in Europe.