Erling Haaland’s return to Dortmund: gifts for his former team-mates

Erling Haaland didn’t upset Borussia Dortmund on his return to the Signal Iduna Park on Tuesday night. It was not the striker’s finest display, with Pep Guardiola confirming that he played after having a fever and a knock. “Erling had a slight fever before the game. He looked tired. That’s why we replaced him. At that moment, we suffered a lot. The first reason is that I saw that he was tired, he had a fever and the third reason is that he had a blow to his foot. That’s why he was not involved in the second half,” Guardiola said.

Although the match ended in a 0-0 draw, Haaland’s return to Dortmund was a special one. As he exited the tunnel, he looked into the stands at the Signal Iduna Park, and when the game was over, he thanked the German fans for their affection on his first return to what was once his home.

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Haaland’s gifts for Dortmund

The Norwegian goalscoring machine wanted to bring gifts to his former family, as reported by German outlet Bild. He bought a few of his home Manchester City shirts and spent time signing them before handing them out to his former team-mates. Haaland gave one to each member of the squad, the manager and the rest of the coaching staff and club employees. At almost €100 per shirt, the Leeds-born player invested nicely in what was a lovely gesture to his former team-mates.

This is Haaland’s second gift to the Dortmund dressing room in only a matter of months. When he was leaving to join City, he went to great lengths to give every member of the Bundesliga club watches. According to Bild, Haaland bought 33 Rolex watches, which he distributed among the staff, and up to 20 Omega watches for the club’s employees.

The total bill for the gifts could be as much as half a million euros, with the Rolexes costing €14,000 and the Omega watches costing around €4,800. In his 89 games for Dortmund, he finished with a phenomenal record of 86 goals and 23 assists.