It was a symbolic image. Sébastien Haller got off the team bus on Friday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. in front of the Don Pepe Gran Melia hotel in Marbella. He had headphones on and was dragging his trolley case behind him. Then he strolled to the entrance with his teammates from Borussia Dortmund and warmly greeted the coaches who were already waiting for the players.
Two hours later, the 28-year-old striker was on the training ground. First he did laps, then he did coordination exercises. The next morning there was a little more on the agenda: technique exercises, header and tackle training. Haller completed everything without exception. He laughed or joked with his colleagues.
BVB goalkeeper Gregor Kobel enjoyed Haller’s performances. “Sébastien makes a very good impression on me. What I saw is good. He looks strong, I like his movements,” said Kobel.
Haller is fine, that’s more than obvious. He looks good and seems fit. His hair has also grown back. After training, he signed autographs. Haller may not be quite the old man yet, but he’s back. Finally. “We are really happy for him and for him. He feels a great desire to finally be back with us and to be able to train,” said Sebastian Kehl.
The BVB sports director had always kept in touch during the Ivorian’s long period of suffering, which was his most important purchase last summer – from the time Haller received the devastating diagnosis: testicular cancer. About the difficult phases before and after the two surgeries and the multiple intervals of chemotherapy. “It is very positive for everyone that he is back. We supported him as best we could as a club, but in the end he did a great job himself. He worked very hard to get back to this point,” said Kehl: “He can be very proud of that.”
It’s a tough road that lies behind Haller. From the days in July when he, freshly signed from Ajax Amsterdam, was also at the training camp with BVB – in Bad Ragaz in Switzerland. Haller, in whom Dortmund saw the successor to the exceptional striker Erling Haaland who had emigrated and for whom they had paid 31 million euros, was happy to be able to return to the Bundesliga. “I know the league, I know how to play here,” he said in his only official media appearance for his new club. He had explained that he didn’t feel any pressure because he had to follow in Haaland’s footsteps. “I don’t come after anyone, I come to Borussia Dortmund because they need my qualities here.” He then promised to “score as many goals as possible”. That was on July 17th.
On the morning of July 18, Haller woke up feeling somehow unwell. Nevertheless, he still trained with the team in the morning. The complaints got worse. He turned to club doctor Markus Braun. He initiated an investigation. After the diagnosis, Haller immediately left the training camp. “The news came as a shock to all of us,” Kehl recalls.
Concerns about Haller’s health initially pushed all other topics into the background: Who cares about season forecasts, transfer rumors or all the things that are otherwise the top topics in the preparation time for an ambitious Bundesliga club? It was a time when BVB paused. The shock of the diagnosis also caused general discussions about the disease, which had often been taboo.
At some point, everyday life returned. While Haller underwent the lengthy treatments and occasionally informed about progress and setbacks via social media, Dortmund began to have doubts as to whether they were well prepared without their dream striker. Coach Edin Terzic needed a powerful center forward for the football he had in mind.
Youssoufa Moukoko, then only 17, did not fit this job description. In addition, the talent had massive adjustment problems last season. So Anthony Modeste was signed – despite the existing skepticism as to whether the former Cologne native would fit BVB’s style at all.
The skeptics were right. Modeste had just two goals in 13 games. The former Cologne player often seemed like a foreign body in the Dortmund game: the Frenchman waited for crosses that didn’t come, started in areas where no ball came. Moukoko, initially disappointed with hopes he would start more often, fought his way into the team. Above all, he finally adapted the BVB style of play: he made progress in the game, both with and against the ball, improved his timing. Before the season was interrupted, he scored six goals in 13 Bundesliga games. This even earned Moukoko, who celebrated his 18th birthday on November 20, a nomination for the German World Cup squad.
Nevertheless, something crucial was missing from the team, which in the past one and a half seasons could always rely on a powerful and complete center forward being able to compensate for their deficits with an impressive number of goals. Haaland had scored an unbelievable 62 times in 67 league games for BVB – that had concealed some undesirable developments.
In the first half of the current season, the problems, which also had a lot to do with a lack of defensive stability, now relentlessly came to light. The result was that the second of the previous season had to spend the winter in sixth place. That’s a slap in the face compared to the club’s standards – especially for the disappointed fans.
There were also atmospheric disturbances. Modeste is the dissatisfaction and frustration to note. His recent social media activities suggest that he is mentally living in the past. After it became known that Cologne had signed a new striker in Davie Selke and that he would play with the shirt number 27, Modeste posted comments describing him as the “sole and only number 27”.
More serious are the upsets because of the still unclear future of Moukoko. BVB’s hopes of extending the expiring contract with the former child prodigy have still not been fulfilled. Dortmund is said to have offered a contract with a fixed salary of three million euros – Moukoko and his advisors have much more in mind. In addition, there are said to be significant differences in terms of the so-called “signing fee” – a payment that is quite customary in the industry when the contract is signed. According to Sky, the Moukoko camp should have more than 10 million euros in mind.
In this mixed situation, the longing for a beacon of hope is growing. It would be almost too nice if Haller could be the one with a view to the coming weeks. There have already been rumors that he could play a role in the opening game against FC Augsburg on January 22nd. If it is up to Haller himself, that would probably not even be completely unfounded. He’s dying to finally be able to storm again. In this urge, however, he must also be slowed down in his own interest.
Haller is in the process of reconnecting with his life before cancer. His stats are good, he seems strong and robust. Nevertheless, he still has a lot of catching up to do.
Despite the pressure of expectations, BVB treats Haller responsibly. Because his story of suffering has taught one thing above all: there are more important things than football, even if it seems to have been forgotten a bit at the moment.
