You get the feeling Maxence Lacroix – and probably every other centre-half in the Bundesliga – will be breathing an almighty sigh of relief when Erling Haaland waves goodbye to Borussia Dortmund.
Remember the days when a goals-to-game ratio of ‘one in two’ was seen as the benchmark for strikers everywhere?
Having found the net a scarcely believable 68 times in 67 matches since swapping Red Bull Salzburg for Signal Iduna Park almost two years ago, Haaland is rewriting the history books in Germany, a blur in yellow and black, an irrepressible, unstoppable force of nature.
And with a £68 million release clause in his contract – one that becomes active when the transfer window swings open next summer – footballing powerhouses across the continent are already jostling for position ahead of what could be the most keenly contested transfer saga of a generation.
Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City are likely to be at the front of the queue – but watch out for Liverpool sneaking through the back door.
According to 90Min, Jurgen Klopp’s Reds have already held talks with Haaland’s agent Mino Raiola and a penalty-box poacher of the Norwegian’s sky-scraping ilk is perhaps the one player this Liverpool side is missing.
Could Liverpool afford Dortmund superstar Erling Haaland?
“Haaland is very good,” says Wolfsburg’s Maxence Lacroix, one of the most reliable centre-halves in German football.
Robert Lewandowski may remain the Bundesliga’s crown-wearing kingpin, the grand old man of goalscoring, but, according to Lacroix, no-one makes a defender’s life a misery quite like Haaland.
“I’ve huge respect for Lewandowski but I think Haaland is the future. I don’t know whether he will stay in the Bundesliga or go elsewhere but he is very good.
“I think I would prefer to play against Lewandowski because Haaland is just so powerful. You have to be fully concentrated when you play against him. They’re different kinds of players, but both extremely good.”
During his four-year spell at Dortmund, Lewandowski averaged a goal once every 0.55 games. For Haaland, the average soars to 1.1 goals per game.
And he’s only just turned 21.
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