'Haaland issue became a burden in Borussia's dressing room'

Since arriving in Bundesliga in January 2020, Erling Haaland has been nothing but sensation. The Norwegian striker came from RB Leipzig and until he went to Manchester City, he scored 62 league goals in 67 games in Germany. No other player has hit the back of the net that often in their first 67 games. He was also the first player to score 25 goals in his first 25 Bundesliga appearances and the youngest and quickest to net 50 times in the competition. And not only that, he also scored two or more goals in the league on 23 occasions (20 braces, two hat-tricks, one game with four goals) – more than any other player in Europe’s big five leagues. And yet it sounds strange when his former employee says that the Haaland issue became a burden in the dressing room…

But newly appointed sporting director Sebastian Kehl, who succeeded mega successful Michael Zorc was talking to Sport Bild and explained his words, which, taken with contest, sounds very reasonable in sporting sense. Haaland had a release clause and in became obvious in January this year that he is ready to leave Bundesliga in the July transfer window, but he didn’t revealed it to Borussia. The issue loomed for months, even thou Dortmund’s executive publically asked the Nowergian to say if he is staying or not, thus giving them enough time to prepare for the transfer window accordingly.

“In the end you have to say: as much as we always liked Erling and as successful as he was with us – in the end the issue became a certain burden in the dressing room, in the club and in the environment. It was the least he could do about it. Almost everything was simply focused on him from the outside and covered many BVB topics that would have been important as well. In the end, the timing of the transfer was the right one for both sides. And we are all happy for Erling that he continues to be so successful. He's a really good guy” said Kehl.

25 goals in 20 CL matches: Haaland strikes again, this time in Seville

Haaland issue was obviously out of hand in Dortmund, and if you look at the British press, he is now the main star in already stars-full City squad. So, having moved that kind of attention, other players are more focused on the games itself, not to mention the necessity to score, since they cannot rely on the Norwegian all the time. Kehl explained that the club would have like to keep Haaland as much as possible, but that it was not to be the case.

“It was no longer in our hands. However, we would have liked to have had certainty a little earlier as the issue has limited our planning. And in terms of sport, we would like to still have him with us. No question. But the time without him gives us the opportunity to give other players more space, and the lack of focus on Erling represents an opportunity for us as a team. The fact that our first ten competitive goals were scored by ten different players proves that quite well”.

BUNDESLIGA ROUND 6

Friday

21:30 Werder Bremen - FC Augsburg

Saturday

16:30 Hoffenheim - FSV Mainz 05

16:30 Bayern München - VfB Stuttgart

16:30 Eintracht Frankfurt - VfL Wolfsburg

16:30 Hertha BSC - Bayer 04 Leverkusen

16:30 RB Leipzig - Borussia Dortmund

19:30 FC Schalke 04 - VfL Bochum

Sunday

16:30 FC Koln - Union Berlin

18:30 SC Freiburg - Borussia M'gladbach

***odds are subject to change***

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