FACT FILE
LEARNING
FROM LEWI
NAME: Erling Braut Haaland
BORN: July 21, 2000 (Leeds, United
Kingdom)
HT / WT: 1.94m / 87kg
POSITION: Striker
CLUB: Borussia DortmundSeason Club Apps Goals
2016 Bryne 16 0
2017 Molde 20 4
2018 Molde 30 16
2018-19 RB Salzburg 5 1
2019-20 RB Salzburg 22 18Robert Lewandowski used Borussia
Dortmund as a stepping stone. Michelle
Osei Bonsu believes Haaland should
take note or find himself stagnating
rather than being challenged...Naturally, with his talent, Erling Braut
Haaland will quickly be a target for
other clubs with more resources than
Borussia Dortmund. Bayern Munich is
one that automatically comes to mind
as the Bavarians have that dubious
reputation for snatching up rival sides’
best talent.
Some may say it’s unfair, but it’s
business. Die Roten have the funds and
in many cases, they don’t even have
to pay a dime to do it, which makes
their transfer policy that much more
brilliant. Just look at the case of Robert
Lewandowski.
Lewandowski used Dortmund as a
stepping stone on route to Bayern
Munich, but has it fully paid off? Yes and
no. His game has improved by leaps and
bounds, that’s certain. And sure, he’s
won a couple of Torjägerkanone prizes
and a bunch of more Bundesliga titles.
Throw in some DFB-Pokals as well, but
anyone playing for Bayern Munich will
be guaranteed to win those because
for the longest time, die Roten have
enjoyed unprecedented dominance over
the rest of the league.
However, that seems to be changing as
of late, with Bayern losing to Dortmund
in the recent DFL-Supercup and falling
to Eintracht Frankfurt in the DFB-
Pokal in 2017. Moreover, he has failed
to win two major prizes he desperately
hoped to win by moving over to the
Allianz Arena: the Champions League
and the Ballon d’Or. The latter of the
two he can’t be fully blamed for as
it’s pretty much guaranteed to go to
either Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo,
with Croatian star Luka Modric being
fortunate to break that duopoly in 2018.
The former, however, certainly has to be
a huge source of frustration with how
Bayern keep coming up short in the
Champions League.
Lewandowski moved to Bayern to
work under Pep Guardiola, and despite
their collaboration and assembling a
solid squad, the two couldn’t conquer
Europe. Carlo Ancelotti arrived, and
still, the trophy with the big ears eluded
the Bavarian titans. Niko Kovac couldn’t
make it happen, either.
The Polish star has expressed his
frustration at not being “given enough
support” with signings to help him,
only for him to be basically told to pipe
down and play football, more or less.
Haaland will be best served to take
note. Dortmund is not a club that ought
to be used as a “stepping stone” outfit,
but rather a place to grow and develop
and lay down roots. In short, it’s a place
where he can truly make his mark, if he
so chooses to do so.as retired Juventus icon Alessandro Del
Piero.
Not bad, certainly, for a 19-year-old who
just a year before was barely getting game-
time at Salzburg and who back in 2017, was
quoted as saying that his biggest ambition
was to “win the Premier League with Leeds
United” – the team and city where his
father, Alf-Inge Haaland, had plied his trade
as a defender and where he had spent his
very early years before moving back to
Norway.
It was becoming rapidly clear that Haaland
was outgrowing Salzburg, so the club had
to strike whilst the iron was hot. The rising
prospect was linked to a number of clubs
all over the continent, with teams such as
Manchester United and Juventus reportedly
keen, but ultimately, he ended up choosing
Borussia Dortmund. It always seemed like
the best option for the scoring prodigy.
Juventus would not have been a good fit,
for starters – the Bianconeri are overloaded
with options, with superstar Cristiano
Ronaldo, Paulo Dybala and Maurizio Sarri
favourite Gonzalo Higuain. There would
simply be no room in a rather congested
field for the 19-year-old Norwegian on a hot
streak. And the fact that Dybala, a more
experienced player who has played many
years in Serie A, was apparently close to
transferring out himself due to struggling
to fit into Sarri’s squad shows that Haaland
likely would not have done that much
better in Turin.
As for Manchester United, well, the Red
Devils aren’t what they used to be and have
yet to fully right the wobbly ship. Although
maybe it may have seen appealing for
Haaland to play under a fellow Norwegian
with former United striker Ole Gunnar
Solskjær at the helm, there still seems to be
something quite not right at Old Trafford
and given how things have gone so far,
who knows whether Solskjær will still be in
charge come the summer?
Dortmund, on the other hand, has built
a strong reputation for nurturing young,
raw talent, as well as players who have
hit a rough patch in their careers and are
looking for a way to pivot and re-discover
themselves. Classic examples of this include
Lewandowski, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
and Paco Alcacer. All three have since have
since departed for different pastures, but
it was at the Signal Iduna Park where they
both made their names and were moulded
into the top strikers that they are now
known as today.
Lewandowski first arrived as a burgeoning
talent from Poland, where he had topped
the scorer’s charts, but was untested in
Europe’s major leagues. It was under Jurgen
Klopp’s tenure where he grew – both
literally and metaphorically – into a world-
class No. 9, with one of his highlights being
2013’s four-goal haul against Real Madrid in
the semi-finals of the Champions League on
route to an all-German Champions League
final against Bayern Munich at Wembley.
Aubameyang, for his part, largely had to
contend with playing second fiddle to
Lewandowski, but once the Polish striker
departed for Bayern Munich, he flourished
in his starring role and quickly became a
real goal-getter, battling – and even beating- his ex-teammate to the Torjägerkanone
during the 2016-17 season with 31 goals.
In doing so, he became the first African to
win the coveted prize since Ghanaian star
Anthony Yeboah clinched back to back
awards with Eintracht Frankfurt in 1993 and
1994 and prevented Lewandowski from
winning consecutive awards.
Meanwhile, Alcacer, who recently returned
to Spain and Villarreal, can certainly thank
Dortmund for helping him rediscover his
form and confidence after a difficult spell at
Barcelona. Although the Spaniard’s return
to his native country is linked to the arrival
of the young Norwegian, he did have a
very solid 2018-19 season, which helped die
Schwarzgelben put up a good fight and
provide Munich with a stern challenge for
the Bundesliga.
Whether he will publicly admit it or not,
Haaland will have followed all of these
players who have come before him at
Borussia Dortmund, and this will have
certainly factored into his decision. He
absolutely will have envisioned himself
not just emulating, but surpassing these
strikers as he makes his own mark in the
Bundesliga.
Then, naturally, there’s the passionate fan
base and the immense atmosphere of
playing at Signal Iduna Park, and he has
already taken to the German top flight like a
proverbial duck to water – scoring almost at
will. Dortmund will be certainly hoping that
he’s not just a flash in the pan – he’s already
being called the “young Zlatan Ibrahimovic”
and with young players like Jadon Sancho,
Thorgan Hazard, and Julian Brandt as part
of their core, to build a team who can really
not just challenge for domestic titles but
eventually for continental honours as well.
ABOVE:
The goals didn’t dry
up when he made
his January move to
Borussia Dortmund
BELOW:
Alf-Inge Haaland –
Erling Braut’s father- was a Premier
League player with
Leeds United, among
others
“Borussia Dortmund
always seemed like the
best option for the
scoring prodigy”