Borussia Dortmund are on the verge of signing Ajax centre-forward Sebastian Haller in a deal worth around 36m Euros as BVB continue to strengthen in preparation for the 2022/23 Bundesliga campaign.
The 27-year-old Ivory Coast striker has been lined up as a replacement for Erling Braut Haaland who departed for Manchester City earlier this month. He has big boots to fill but Haller could be the man to lead the BVB line, after enjoying a stellar season with Ajax in the league and Champions League.
He scored 34 goals for the Dutch champions last term, top-scoring with 21 in the league, and his 11 in the Champions League put him in third position, behind only Karim Benzema and Robert Lewandowski, and he appears to have comprehensively shaken off the disappointing stint he had in the Premier League while at West Ham United. As well as finding the net with impressive regularity Haller has also provided 16 assists in his 66 appearances for Ajax.
While Haller is not a like-for-like replacement for Haaland, there are some similarities. At 6ft 3in he’s a powerful unit, but for a big man he has a skilful touch with both feet and is not over-reliant on an ability to outmuscle defenders, though it comes in handy at times.
Haller is likely to line up alongside another new recruit, the 20-year-old Karim Adeyemi, who has made the switch from Red Bull Salzburg having scored 18 goals and made seven assists for the Austrians last term. Adeyemi has bags of pace and a cool head in front of goal and these two could form a lethal partnership.
With the excellent Marco Reus and Dutch striker Donyell Malen in the attacking group BVB are well placed to score goals aplenty in 2022.
Exciting new centre-back pairing
The pre-season Bundesliga 2022 betting odds are backing FC Bayern to retain the title, but Dortmund’s new head coach Edin Terzic has worked hard in the transfer market to enable his team to mount a serious challenge. While FC Bayern continue to toil under the strain of the Lewandowski saga, as well as recruiting up front BVB have put together a new look centre-back pairing which looks capable of holding off the best attacks.
22-year-old Nico Schlotterbeck had a standout campaign last term with SC Freiburg ahead of a 25m move to Dortmund. He’s a cultured centre-back, strong in the air and confident on the ball, and he will potentially line up alongside the 26-year-old Niklas Sule, who has made the switch from Bayern after five campaigns with the champions. With 40 caps for Germany, Sule has the experience to marshal the defence while being an attacking threat at set pieces.
Schlotterbeck and Sule will have competition from the present incumbents, Manuel Akanji and Mats Hummels, so the BVB centre back position is also in good health.
If Terzic can pull of the signing of TSG Hoffenheim left-back David Raum then he’ll be happy with his business on the backline, but there is plenty of work to do there, with competition from Premier League clubs. Raum is the type of attacking full-back BVB fans love, making 11 assists and scoring three goals last season and Terzic will do all he can to bring him to the Signal Iduna Stadium.
Reyna working towards fitness and Bellingham in Dortmund for another year
BVB could have two of their best teenagers linking up again before long if USA attacking midfielder Gio Reyna continues to make progress after suffering an injury-hit campaign last term. He won’t make the start of the new campaign but the 19-year-old will be back in light training soon and Terzic will be keen to get him in amongst the fist team squad as early as possible.
And while Liverpool fans are getting excited about the prospect of Jude Bellingham arriving at Anfield next summer, the 18-year-old is happy to stay in Dortmund for the 2022/23 season. That is good news for Die Schwarzgelben as they will have a young talent as good as any in the Bundesliga for another 12 months. And with the prospect of Reyna back on the pitch before long the creative muscle of BVB is getting stronger.
The 2022/23 campaign is inching closer day by day and, here at SBOTOP, we’ll keep you up to date with all the Bundesliga 2022 news as it happens. But, in the meantime, it looks like the new BVB team is starting to take shape.
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