the output of Erling Haland of Borussia Dortmund seems to be getting closer, with Manchester City, Real Madrid and Barcelona as the main candidates to pay the 82.5 million dollars of the termination clause of his contract.
With a remarkable average of one goal per game (80 goals in his 80 appearances for the club in all competitions), it will be difficult to fill the Norwegian prodigy’s spoils.
However, someone has to do it. So who could replace Haaland (21) as the main goalscoring threat at the Westfalenstadion?
Dortmund have a long tradition of bringing high-producing, ruthlessly attacking strikers to the market: Robert Lewandowski and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang are two of the best examples of this in the past decade, while Cyrus Immobile did not finish carbureting. Dortmund’s attack-minded style of football is often fit for a sharp ‘9’.
While the summer signing Donyell Malenwho arrived from PSV Eindhoven for a figure close to 35.2 million, has not managed to start in the best way, and the 17-year-old center forward Youssoufa Moukoko still struggling to land a regular roster spot, the vacancy Haaland will vacate will likely need to be filled by an outside candidate.
Here are some names that could be considered by Dortmund.
Karim Adeyemi, 20 years old, FC Salzburg | Transfer value: $38.5 million
While Adeyemi (coincidentally Haaland’s replacement at FC Salzburg) is already a well-established target, it appears that Dortmund’s interest in the 20-year-old has begun to wane due to his recent drop in form. Having enjoyed a formidable start to the campaign, including a goal on his debut for the German senior team, Adeyemi has struggled to make a similar impact since the start of the year. (His only goal came from a last-minute penalty in the league game against Altach.)
According to various media reports, Dortmund are reluctant to pay the $46.7 million demanded by the Austrian champions for their pass. The occasional scoring drought is not uncommon for young strikers and Adeyemi has previously shown that he possesses the fast-finishing technique, speed and strength that characterize a budding top-tier striker, as well as clever runs off the ball. If Dortmund don’t sign Adeyemi this summer, another club will surely sign him sooner rather than later.
Darwin Nunez, 22 years old, Benfica | Transfer value: $44 million
Nunez’s performances may suggest that he is about to enter a category of player beyond the reach of all but 12 elite European clubs, meaning the chances of Dortmund signing the mighty Uruguayan are fading. quickly. When it comes to his style of play, Nunez has the mobility and powerful right hand that fit the profile of multiple elite gunners; however, he also shares some similarities with Haaland himself: he displays his best play when space opens up and has the opportunity to make quick, accurate early moves through the opposing defensive line.
With his accelerations, excellent balance and command of his body in one-on-one situations, Nunez is a master of capitalizing in the transition phase just as he has just won the ball back. In a similar case to Haaland, Núñez (the Primeira Liga’s top scorer with 20 goals) is also brimming with raw potential and promises much more for the future. What makes him especially interesting is his preference for going for the unexpected and improvisation, rather than the laboratory movement characteristic of the homegrown centre-forward. Instead of pretending to be the complete center forward, Núñez shows the best side of him when he faces the opposite goal.
Luka Jović, 24 years old, Real Madrid | Transfer value: $22 million
Very little has worked for Jovic since he left Eintracht Frankfurt in 2019 after an exceptional campaign. At just 20 years old, the Swedish striker scored 19 goals in the Bundesliga and contributed significantly to the cause of his team until they qualified for the Europa League final. After being rewarded with a move to Real Madrid valued at $68.4 million, the once prolific goalscorer has seen only sporadic glimpses of his former self. He was unsuccessful on loan back to Eintracht Frankfurt last season and since his return to Spain, Jovic has only managed to appear as a very occasional substitute under Carlo Ancelotti.
While some already dismiss him as a one day sweetheart in some corners, it’s worth mentioning that Jovic was exceptional during that particular season: dominant in the air, a finisher with great skills on both legs, agile and full of enthusiasm, courage and unpredictable movements. It is true that the 24-year-old striker needs help to recapture the towering heights of three years ago and Dortmund could be the right place to do it.
Gianluca Scamacca, 23 years old, Sassuolo | Transfer value: $22 million
The Italian is unlikely to fit the profile of a movement-based striker looking for spaces behind the defensive line to make the most of them. However, Scamacca would offer the skills that traditionally characterize a centre-forward. He is always present in the short list of powerful Italian strikers (he was strongly mentioned as a candidate for a move to Juventus before the signing of Dusan Vlahović), the former PSV Eindhoven youth squad was rewarded by coach Roberto Mancini with his first caps for the Italy national team earlier in the season after making an impressive impression in Serie A, along with appearances for the Azzurra under-21 side.
Apart from being an excellent holding player (it is very difficult to take the ball from him since he protects it very well thanks to his robust build and developed physical strength), he is strong in the air (he wins 50% of his duels in the air) and scores spectacular goals. His low volley with the chest against Napoli last December is a strong candidate for the best goal of the Serie A season.
Sasa Kalajdzic, 24 years old, Stuttgart | Transfer value: $24.2 million
The imposing 2-meter-tall center forward was unable to return to activity until after the Bundesliga’s winter break after suffering a shoulder injury that kept him out for almost a semester. Signed from Admira Wacker in the summer of 2019, Kalajdzic is a late-developer who first made his name at the highest level of German football with 16 goals in the Bundesliga last season.
With Stuttgart currently sitting penultimate in the table (and with a year to go on Kaladzic’s contract), the summer transfer window is expected to show ample interest in a player who has scored three goals in six league games since joining. return after recovering from injury. Handily quick (often reaching throw-ins before the supposedly faster centre-backs), he is adept at crosses, has excellent header and throw-in skills, and demonstrates aerial dominance in attack that is not he has seen at Dortmund since the time of Jan Koller.
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The candidates to replace Haaland at Dortmund