‘No-one really seems to listen’ – Dortmund reiterate Haaland transfer stance amid Chelsea links
Borussia Dortmund managing director Hans-Joachim Watzke has been discussing Erling Haaland’s future once again amid ongoing talk of interest from Chelsea, with the Bundesliga giants saying “no-one really seems to listen”.
The prolific Norwegian striker continues to attract admiring glances, with his exploits in Germany sparking talk of big-money bids from European superpowers.
Premier League heavyweights Chelsea are generating the most speculation with a €175 million (£150m/$207m) price tag said to have been set, but Dortmund maintain that they have no intention of sanctioning a sale.
What has been said?
Dortmund have already allowed Jadon Sancho to join Manchester United this summer and Watzke says Haaland and Julian Brandt will not be following the England international through the exits.
He said: “It is pretty clear to me that Erling Haaland will stay at Dortmund, just Julian Brandt will remain. I tend to say that every day but no-one really seems to listen as I hear something new every week.
“To us, it is pretty clear that we will have Julian Brandt for the upcoming season. I hope that he will have a great season with us this year. I hope that he will be able to exploit his strong potential and tap into more of the talent that he clearly has.
“Julian is a great guy and I really like him. If he has a strong season then it will be great for all of us. It would never have made sense to give him away. It was never the topic of discussion of anyone here at Dortmund.”
Will Haaland remain at Dortmund?
The German giants are under no pressure to sell, having tied Haaland to contract through to 2024.
Future sporting director Sebastian Kehl, who will replace Michael Zorc in that role next year, is another who believes the 21-year-old willk be staying put for the foreseeable future.
Quizzed by Bild on whether Haaland will form part of Dortmund’s plans for 2021-22, he has said: “Yes.
“In the conversations with Mino Raiola about the [Donyell] Malen transfer, I did not have the feeling that we would have to meet again soon about Erling, and we have already emphasised 1000 times that we do not want to give him up.”
Zorc himself has talked about the Haaland to Chelsea rumours in a DPA interview.
He called them nothing but “hot steam”, and regarding the reported €175m offer Zorc said: “That offer does not exist and we do not expect it to arrive. When these numbers circulated in the media I guess certain people were still dreaming about the Super League. We do not have to sell Erling.”