Klinsmann on Haaland transfer decision: There are no guarantees no matter where you go!

Posted Friday, April 22, 2022 by Goal.com

The striker could leave Dortmund this summer, but the German legend says that making the right choice won't be easy

Jurgen Klinsmann has weighed in on Erling Haaland's future as the German legend says the Borussia Dortmund star must understand that there are no guarantees in football.

Haaland is expected to leave this summer, with Manchester City, Barcelona and Real Madrid all linked with a move, as the Norway star looks set to join a new club as he looks to grow his legacy.

He's found trophies hard to come by at Dortmund, given Bayern Munich's dominance, but Klinsmann says Haaland needs to understand that the only club that he believes can provide guaranteed trophies is Paris Saint-Germain, who have their attacking unit sorted with Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and Lionel Messi.

What did Klinsmann say about Haaland?

"You have the chance with Dortmund to challenge Bayern Munich and you're a big part of it," Klinsmann said. "He's a big, big piece at Borussia Dortmund. You can keep on giving it a shot with Borussia Dortmund.

"If you decide to go somewhere else, which is understandable but if he decides, there's no guarantee that wherever you go that you're going to win those titles right away.

"You see what happens in Spain right now. If you talk about Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico, there's always a question mark about who makes the run at the end of the day. Even in England now, if he has a choice between the top four in England, there's no guarantee that you make the right choice and you win the Premier League right away there.

"I think the only place where you can really have a guarantee to get a domestic title right away is PSG, but I think they are pretty done right now with their front three.

"So it's actually not easy. If he entertains the thought now of leaving Borussia Dortmund, where is the right place for him to go? It's not an easy decision at all."

Haaland vs Lewandowski

Haaland and Dortmund are set to face off with Bayern this weekend as they look to keep their title hopes alive in the Bundesliga.

As things stand, Dortmund sit nine points behind Bayern with eight games to play, making Saturday's match a must-win.

To do so, they'll have to stop Robert Lewandowski, a player that has asserted himself as arguably the best goalscorer in the world in recent years.

Klinsmann, a legendary Bundesliga striker himself, says he sees a lot of similarities between Haaland and Lewandowski and that he believes the duo does a lot to lift the perception of the league as a whole.

"I look at Erling Haaland as the young Lewandowski and have said that many times because he has everything that you need to become a complete player," Klinsmann said.

"Unfortunately, a bit similar to Lewandowski, his national team environment doesn't give him the chance maybe to win a World Cup. It would be very, very difficult. I'm not saying it's not possible, anything is possible, but it's most likely it won't happen.

"But in whatever team they play, they're just leader figures in the role that they're playing as a No. 9 and I think that Erling has a very, very bright future ahead of him. Such a young talent already completing his game.

"I think Robert has got the recognition now over the last two or three years also in terms of individual recognition, world footballer of the year and getting some individual trophies that he really deserves because of what he's done the last couple of years at Bayern Munich. It's just catching up to records with Gerd Muller and being so outstanding in his performance and so consistent.

"That also shows that this environment at Bayern Munich delivers him that possibility to stand out and to score so many goals because he has players feeding him just fantastically. He knows. 'If I go into a game I get three, four or five chances' and this is huge for a number nine.

"It's similar for Haaland where you have guys like Marco Reus or Giovani Reyna or Bellingham or any other of these guys that constantly look for him and put him in the position to score those goals.

"We're very proud in Germany to have these two outstanding players and we just hope that they stay in the Bundesliga."

Entering the match, Lewandowski has 32 goals in 30 Bundesliga matches, while Haaland has been limited by injury through most of the season, although he has scored 18 goals in 20 matches.