SOCCER
Haaland facing new setback
German daily Ruhr Nachrichten reports that Borussia Dortmund aim to reach an agreement with the first team squad to take another pay cut.
The past few months have been anything but straightforward for Erling Haaland. Borussia Dortmund were knocked out of the Champions League at the group stage and now move into the Europa League - a less prominent competition which will also affect the club in terms of income. German daily Ruhr Nachrichten reports that Dortmund plan reduce the squad wages bill for a second time and hope to reach an agreement with the players to accept a cut in pay.
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The German government recently announced new restrictions on fan attending outdoors events as the country battles a fourth wave of Covid-19 cases. The Bundesliga will be affected as a capacity cap has been set of 15,000 fans for all matches when competition resumes on 7 January. It's another economic blow for clubs in the German top flight - in Dortmund's, it means a loss of around four millione euros per league game. The club is relying on income from gate receipts to meet their budget and have set a margin of just 15 million in potential losses. That, together with the loss of revenue from the Champions League means that Dortmund now have to cut back wherever they can.
In the recent shareholders' meeting, club CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke explained, "If in January and February it becomes clear that losses are inevitable, we will have to maintain dialogue with the players", adding that the club is not planning to balance the books by selling players in the January window. "Apart from Roman Bürki, the only member of the first team squad who hasn't been playing, we cannot afford to let anyone go".
Dortmund, anxious about Haaland's future
It seems that Borussia Dortmund are getting a little tired over the uncertainlty surrounding Haaland's future. A meeting was scheduled over the Christmas period but now, Bild is reporting that the club has given their star player until February to make a decision. That would give Dortmund time to find a replacement for next season. They will need to if Haaland chooses not to accept an offer of almost 20 million euros per season plus bonuses to stay on in Germany. It would make him the best-paid player in Dortmund's history, but in the short-term, he may have to take a pay cut rather than get a pay rise.