Experienced, dangerous and yet inexpensive. At Borussia Dortmund, the tricky search for a replacement for Sébastien Haller is in full swing.
The month-long absence of the newcomer, who is suffering from a tumor, is now increasing the pressure to act. The idea of closing the gap with players from our own ranks now seems to have been discarded. "I think we'll do something again in terms of personnel. Ideally, something should happen in the next eight to ten days," said club boss Hans-Joachim Watzke in an interview with "sportschau.de".
After a busy transfer summer with the much-noticed signings of Haller (Amsterdam), Niklas Süle (Munich), Nico Schlotterbeck (Freiburg), Karim Adeyemi (Salzburg) and Salih Özcan (Cologne), sports director Sebastian Kehl is again challenged. Similar to Managing Director Watzke, the Zorc successor is striving for a quick solution to the problem: "If there are options, it would of course be good to implement them as soon as possible. Of course I have a list in mind. We've been busy for a few days in order to."
A lot of work for BVB sports director Kehl
The fact that the financial resources are limited after the previous shopping tour, which cost around 86 million euros, makes the search more difficult. Allegedly, BVB does not want to spend more than ten million euros. "It's clear that we can't spend as much money again as we did with Sébastien Haller. That's not possible at the moment," Kehl recently told Sky, "we have to be a little creative ".
Kehl was on the phone almost every day with consultants who offered their players. He did not want to comment on publicly traded names of established professionals such as Edinson Cavani, Edin Dzeko, Mauro Icardi, Giovanni Simeone, Krzysztof Piatek or Anthony Modeste. But the requirements profile of Borussia, which is looking for a similarly experienced and powerful striker like Haller, limits the circle of candidates. "The supply on the market is not exactly lavish," said Watzke.
Transfer rumors about Cavani
According to "Bild", the 35-year-old Cavani should continue to belong to the narrower group of candidates. The Uruguayan striker would be available on a free transfer as a free agent, but would be one of the top earners in the squad if signed.
Modeste, whose negotiations with 1. FC Köln, which are trying to reduce costs, to extend his contract, which runs until 2023, is also said to have been offered to BVB. The Bundesliga experience of the 33-year-old Frenchman, who scored 20 goals last season, speaks for a commitment. His desire for a contract with a term of at least two years, on the other hand, could be an impediment.
Youssoufa Moukoko is considered to be the victim of a possible BVB transfer. After all, the deployment times of the storm talent should be reduced in this case. Not least because of this, he is hesitant to extend his contract, which expires next summer. But Watzke doesn't like the idea of making Moukoko the sole Haller representative: "Now dumping everything on Youssoufa Moukoko's shoulders – he's 17 years old - that might be a bit much."
