The Bundesliga is losing an attractive figure. As initially the listed Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund confirmed in an ad hoc announcement and a little later Manchester City in a mean press release, all parties have “reasons” about a move by the Norwegian top striker Erling Braut Haaland, 21, from BVB to the leader of the English Premier League reached after agreement”.
Barely an hour later, the next breaking news followed, which affected Dortmund on Tuesday. Because the transfer of the German national player Karim Adeyemi from RB Salzburg to Borussia Dortmund was also confirmed. Adeyemi, 20, signed a contract until 2027.
The parties remained silent about the specific details of Haaland’s move to coach Pep Guardiola’s team – the contracts had not yet been signed on Tuesday. However, the ad hoc announcement by the Bundesliga club stated that the “positive effect” on Borussia Dortmund’s balance sheet would be in the order of 35 to 40 million euros.
The total volume of the investment for ManCity should be around 100 million euros
According to English media, which cite sources at Manchester City, the English Premier League leaders pay a transfer fee of “only” 60 million euros for Haaland. “Only” because so far an amount of “at least” 75 million euros had been rumored. However, the total cost of the operation is considerably higher than this sum. According to information from the London newspaper TheTimes the total volume of the investment by City is around 100 million euros. This results from a contract signing premium for Haaland and the brokerage fees for his consulting agency.
Coming to BVB in the summer: Karim Adeyemi, here still in the Salzburg jersey.
(Photo: Krugfoto/AFP)
Haaland is represented by the company of player agent Mino Raiola, who died just a few days ago. Raiola’s illness delayed the closing of the deal, which was basically secured on Monday after the mandatory medical check-up; Haaland had traveled to Brussels especially for this. The certification of his ability to work enables Haaland to start a five-year contract with City. His salary is said to be in the spheres of City’s most famous player, former Bundesliga professional Kevin De Bruyne. Haaland is said to earn around £400,000 a week. Calculated over the year, this corresponds to almost 25 million euros.
Haaland joined BVB from Salzburg about two and a half years ago. He didn’t win a championship title during his time in Dortmund, but he did win a DFB Cup and scored 61 goals in 66 Bundesliga games. These numbers alone made him one of the most attractive purchases on the transfer market, alongside Frenchman Kylian Mbappé from Paris Saint-Germain.
In addition to Manchester City, top Spanish clubs FC Barcelona and Real Madrid had also applied for Haaland’s services. But: For FC Barcelona, a commitment from the Norwegian international was ruled out for financial reasons. On Tuesday, the Spanish league association LFP announced business figures that illustrate this well. According to this, FC Barcelona, which has billions in debt, posted losses of 500 million euros in the 2020/2021 season alone.
Man City finally wants to win the Champions League with Haaland
A possible Haaland transfer to Real Madrid, which was long considered Haaland’s preferred club, failed primarily because the Norwegian wanted to include an exit clause in the contract. According to radio station Cadena SER, Haaland wanted to give the 35-time Spanish champions the option of leaving for 150 million euros after a year. Club boss Florentino Pérez rejected such a thing. That left only Manchester City in the end – which had added value for sentimental reasons. Erling’s father, Alf-Inge, played for City from 2000 to 2003.
While Haaland has not yet publicly slipped on City’s light blue shirt, Adeyemi has already tried out the yellow and black shirt after passing the medical check. Phenotypically, he is not even remotely comparable to the Norwegian Gulliver Haaland, but BVB sports director Michael Zorc praised Adeyemi’s talent, his final strength and his “extreme pace”. Sebastian Kehl, who will succeed Zorc in the summer, added: “Although Karim is just 20 years old in terms of football and athletics, we see enormous development potential in him.” U-21 European champion Adeyemi is currently the top scorer in the Austrian league, which Haaland also knows very well. He became a double winner there.
At City, Haaland should collect more national titles. But his commitment should bring the club closer to the long-cherished dream of finally winning the Champions League. Just last week, Pep Guardiola’s team failed in the semifinals at 13-time premier class champions Real Madrid. Spain’s record champions will meet Liverpool in the final in Paris on May 28th.