Hans-Joachim Watzke: Borussia Dortmund will find the next Erling Haaland

Borussia Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke is confident that Borussia Dortmund will find the next young talent if Erling Haaland leaves this summer.

While speaking at the “19:09 – Der Schwarzgelbe Talk” with Ruhr Nachrichten, Borussia Dortmund CEO Han-Joachim Watzke touched on the topic of Erling Haaland’s departure, stating that the circumstances surrounding his release clause were pertinent to the player joining the club in the first place. Dortmund may have lost out on the signing of Haaland had they not included it in his contract.

"“At the end of the day, the truth is that we gave him [Haaland] an exit clause – otherwise he may have gone to Manchester United.”"

Despite this, the BVB CEO isn’t worried about the club’s ability to find the next top young talent who they can develop into yet another star player. Dortmund have always been very good at finding players to replace their retinue of talented strikers over the years.

"“But the bottom line is: things will continue. If there’s one thing Borussia Dortmund can do, it’s find the next guy. A team always makes more of a difference than a player.”"

When it comes to incoming players, it would seem that Dortmund certainly don’t want to continue in this vein of release clauses. Watzke commented on the negotiations for Karim Adeyemi and noted that they are trying to make sure there isn’t a release clause in the RB Salzburg forward’s contract.

"“If he came, we would try to get it done without an exit clause. I think the player has already more or less expressed the feeling that he wants to join BVB. We have to make it work somehow.”"

While the German youngster coming in would be a welcome attacking reinforcement, he is not being planned as a direct Haaland replacement. Borussia Dortmund have their own shortlist of talented, young strikers that they are looking into and it will be exciting to see who will play alongside Adeyemi up top next season.