This afternoon, Borussia Dortmund announced the signing of Norwegian wonder-kid Erling Braut Håland from Red Bull Leipzig. The move ends a wave of speculation linking the young star to just about every single one of Europe’s elite clubs but eventually, the youngster has decided Dortmund is the best move for his career. Håland has signed a deal that will see him remain in Dortmund until 2024.
Back at the start of December, we wrote about the potential move and spoke of the best step for Håland – you can read that here. In it, I referenced how Bild’s report on the deal stated that Håland wanted to use a Bundesliga club as a “stepping stone” in his quest to follow in his fathers footsteps.
If that is indeed his intent, Håland couldn’t have picked a better club to fulfill his goals. The club seem overjoyed to have secured his services. “Despite many offers from absolute top clubs from all over Europe, Erling Haaland decided on the sporting task at BVB and the perspective that we have shown him. Our tenacity has paid off,” says Borussia Dortmund’s CEO, Hans-Joachim Watzke.
Sports director Michael Zorc, who led the negotiations, added: “We can all look forward to an ambitious, athletic and physically strong center forward with a pronounced goal instinct and impressive speed, which we would like to develop further in Dortmund. At the age of 19, Erling is of course just beginning a hopefully great career!”
Currently, Dortmund sit fourth in the Bundesliga table, seven points behind RB Leipzig, the sister club of Håland’s current employer, RB Salzburg. When the goes through on January 1st, Dortmund will have until the end of the winter break to help the 19-year-old get used to his new surroundings. The first game back for BVB will see them face Augsburg away, wherein Håland will likely make his debut.
Håland will have to wait until the 25th January to play at the Westfalenstadion, where you can be sure he will be given a very warm welcome by the famous yellow wall.
Håland’s perfect move
So, what are Dortmund getting? Well, they’re getting one of the worlds best young players – a man who has scored 16 goals in 14 games so far this season in the Austrian Bundesliga. Standing at 6’3″ (1.94m), he’ll provide a magnificent target man for the likes of Jadon Sancho and Marco Reus to focus their attacking play around.
However, he’s not just an Andy Carroll-like win headers and hold the ball up old school centre forward – far from it actually. He has pace, he has power and he more than plays his part in assisting his teammates. To add to his impressive goal tally, Håland has set up six goals in the league, as well as one in the Champions League – a competition in which Håland (8 goals) is behind only former Dortmund striker Robert Lewandowski (10 goals) in the Golden boot race.
For me, despite the window having not opened yet, this is the best signing of the winter window across the whole of Europe. Håland will transform the Dortmund attack, which is already phenomenal, into one of the best in the world. For the lad personally, the decision to go to Germany before moving to the Premier League shows he already has a wise head on his shoulders.
Moving to the Premier League at such an early age, while I’m pretty sure he would have done a perfectly good job, would have been a tough ask for someone so young. Dortmund will give Håland the perfect opportunity to become more accustomed to playing in a more intense, faster and tougher league. My personal prediction is that he’ll stay in Dortmund for a minimum of 18 months, continue to score a healthy amount of goals and then end up at the likes of Manchester United for a 9 figure fee before his 23rd birthday.
What do you think, has Håland made the right decision? Let us know in the comments below.
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