Sébastien Haller Joins Dortmund For $31m From Ajax Amsterdam

It is finally official. Borussia Dortmund has signed striker Sébastien Haller from Ajax Amsterdam. Haller has signed a four-year contract, and Ajax will receive €31 million ($31.5m), plus performance-based add-ons. According to Transfermarkt, Haller becomes the second-most expensive signing in club history.

“We’re very pleased to have been able to sign Sébastien Haller – a seasoned center-forward who has recently caused a sensation in the Champions League, but who also knows the Bundesliga in particular and has already demonstrated his class and high-quality finishing there,” said Borussia Dortmund’s new sporting director Sebastian Kehl on the club website.

The transfer was agreed upon several weeks ago but was held up by Ajax—the Dutch club wanted the transfer fee to fall into the new fiscal year. Haller will replace Erling Haaland, who left the club for Manchester City on July 1.

Added Kehl: “The overall package is very promising. Sébastien possesses a strong physical presence, and he is physically very resilient. With his experience, he can also offer support and stability to our young attacking players. During the talks with us, he made it clear that he has big ambitions with BVBVB
.”

In Haller, Dortmund has added a player with significant Bundesliga experience. Between 2017 and 2019, Haller scored 24 goals and 13 assists in 60 Bundesliga games for Eintracht Frankfurt. The 28-year-old also helped the Eagles reach the Europa League’s semifinal in 2019, where Chelsea narrowly eliminated the club.

It was during that time that Dortmund became first interested in Haller. But ultimately, Haller opted to move to the PremierPINC
League, joining West Ham United for $55 million in 2019.

That transfer was a step back for Haller. Off the field, West Ham struggled to meet Frankfurt’s payment structure for the Haller transfer fee. On the field, Haller was a poor match for the system played by West Ham manager David Moyes.

In January 2021, Haller left England and joined Ajax for $24.75 million. His time in the Netherlands started the worst possible way with Ajax forgetting to register Haller for the Europa League knockout stage. It would remain the only dark spot in otherwise 18 very successful months at the club. Although not a typical Ajax striker, Haller would score 47 goals and 16 assists in 65 games for the Eredivisie record champions.

The only criticism was his lack of mobility and his tendency to only score from a short distance; Haller is not the complete striker that many Ajax fans envision and, at times, stood out negatively in an attack that was primarily focused on quick mobile wingers. Those pointing at Dutch critiques of the Ivorian forward should also be reminded that Zlatan Ibrahimovic had periods in which fans of the Amsterdam-based club booed him—Ajax fans, in general, are tough to please.

Dortmund scouts are undoubtedly aware of the shortcomings. But they will also point to his time in the Bundesliga. Furthermore, in Karim Adeyemi, the club has signed a player that could very much form a tandem with Haller and compensate for some of the shortcomings of the Ivorian forward.

Either way, Dortmund under Edin Terzic will be different this time around than when Haaland was still in the squad. In Haller, the club had signed a forward that will provide dependable scoring without the club being overly dependent on a single forward as was the case when Haaland was still in Dortmund—whether that will make the club better remains to be seen.

Manuel Veth is the host of the Bundesliga Gegenpressing Podcast and the Area Manager USA at Transfermarkt. He has also been published in the Guardian, Newsweek, Howler, Pro Soccer USA, and several other outlets. Follow him on Twitter: @ManuelVeth