Sebastien Haller is a new addition to Borussia Dortmund, the Ivorian successfully completed his medical check on Thursday. However, the transfer will probably not go its final way with all signatures and official confirmation until July.
The pictures of Haller at the airport and during his visit to the miners’ hospital in Dortmund were clear, the medical check also turned out to the satisfaction of all parties – but there is unlikely to be an official confirmation of the transfer for 31 million plus bonuses in the coming days, although the clubs and the player are in agreement.
Dutch Ajax Amsterdam, as the transferring club, do not want to complete the transfer until July and then confirm it with an ad hoc announcement. The advantage for the Dutch: the income thus falls into the coming financial year.
For the player and BVB, this agreement makes no significant difference: as an international – he still played for the Ivory Coast against Zambia on 3 June – Haller would not have started training until 8 or 9 July anyway and would have missed the kick-off next Monday. BVB did not want to comment on this on Thursday.
There is no doubt about the completion of the transfer, however, Dortmund have found a successor for goal-scorer Erling Haaland, who left for ManCity. Haller is the third Ajax professional to move to the Bundesliga this summer, with Noussair Mazraoui and Ryan Gravenberch both already joining rivals Bayern Munich.
Haller had first moved to the Bundesliga in July 2017, Eintracht Frankfurt luring the 1.90-metre Ivorian to Hesse from FC Utrecht. For the SGE, Haller scored 33 goals in 77 competitive matches, he particularly impressed in the 2018/19 Bundesliga season (29 appearances, 15 goals).
For a record fee, Haller then moved to the Premier League to West Ham United, for whom he scored ten goals in 48 league games, before moving to Ajax Amsterdam in January 2021 – again for a record fee. In the first half of the year, Haller scored eleven goals in 19 Eredivisie games.
Two Champions League records broken – Haaland overtaken
Haller then really took off last season, breaking two records in the top flight – and even leaving a certain Erling Haaland behind. In addition to his eleven goals in his very first eight Champions League appearances, he scored 21 goals in 31 league games for Ajax. As top scorer and two-time Dutch champion, Haller now leaves the Eredivisie.
