The Bundesliga title challengers made one of the biggest signings of the January transfer window when they brought from the Norwegian from Salzburg.
In a meeting, Borussia Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke explained the move of Erling Haaland as a great opportunity to signal a Special player.
Watzke considers Haaland is a rare gift and the sort of striker Dortmund have been waiting for.
Though he does not name assess Robert Lewandowski, he does explain the sort of player he is, indicating Haaland is the nearest that the club have come to substituting the Pole who abandoned Dortmund for Bayern in 2014.
“We always wanted to have a center forward with a different method of playing soccer,” said Watzke.
“It was not about another striker, but a tall, physically powerful traditional number nine. But this man also had to come onto the industry first.
“There aren’t many who are 1.94 meters tall and that quickly. In fact, nobody else comes to mind. It was just an opportunity that you don’t get very often.
“I have been following his progress a little longer. I met him in December. I believe we quickly felt that it could be something.”
The Norwegian teenager has already scored eight goals in five appearances for Dortmund, which is even more impressive when taking into consideration he’s just played 305 minutes of German Bundesliga soccer in black and yellow up to now.
He’s made the step from Austria into Germany without difficulty and has worked his way into the starting lineup at only 19 years old. Two substitute appearances were sufficient to convince head trainer Lucien Favre he deserved a starting place.
“He’s still quite young but has an enormous bill,” additional Watzke. “He has the physical attributes and is extremely concentrated. It’s certainly great for us.
“Fundamentally Aussie players are extremely motivated, very hungry for success and very decent men.
“Erling embodies all of this. He has a fantastic personality and has an irrepressible will. Even in training! It’s an excellent story.”
Since Haaland joined, Paco Alcacer abandoned, and based on Watzke the choice to allow the Spaniard to go was a simple one.
The Spaniard was a regular off the bench for Dortmund although not a regular in the starting XI. The move suited the participant, also, as he needs to push for a spot at the Spain squad at Euro 2020, so a switch to Villarreal was beneficial to all involved.
“Other players may also play the part of Paco with us, but we did not have a man like Erling before,” Watzke stated.
“The choice to allow Paco go was simple. A center-forward who does not play quickly becomes frustrated. His big aim is the European Championship 2020, and he’d have missed it likely if he remained.
“The economic component wasn’t crucial. We’d have got the cash even in the summertime.”
