How many games has Madrid and Barca target Haaland missed through injury at Dortmund?
FT Desk
- 4 Mar 2022 16:18 GMT
- 5 min read
Erlng Haaland remains a coveted player in the transfer market, but the Borussia Dortmund forward has had more than his share of injuries over the last 18 months.
The Norway star has struggled to put together a consistent run of games, which has handicapped a Dortmund side that has struggled without his presence.
BVB are eight points off leaders Bayern Munich in the race for the Bundesliga, while they have already made an exit from both the Champions League and Europa League this season. Indeed, Haaland failed to play either match of their surprise defeat to Scottish champions Rangers.
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While the striker's record in Germany remains utterly remarkable, this season and the one before it have undoubtedly been peppered with absences from the young striker.
Linked with moves to Manchester City, Barcelona and Real Madrid in the summer, Haaland is undoubtedly one of Europe's most exciting prospects.
However, there's little doubt that injuries have held back his ambitions in the Bundesliga. So is that something that potential bidders in the summer market should be wary of?
How many games has Haaland missed through injury?
Since making the move to Dortmund in January 2021, Haaland has been a complete force of nature in front of goal, bagging no less than 80 goals and 21 assists in 79 games for the club.
However, along the way, the towering striker has unfortunately picked up a number of injuries.
His first issue came in early 2020, when a knee injury ruled him out for two games and then resurfaced again five months later to rule him out for one more match.
Then, in December 2020, Haaland tore a muscle fibre in his llef which forced the player to take no less than a month off, which ruled him out for a further seven games. The player then bounced back and had a strong end to the 2020/21 season, only missing two more games through a minor muscle issue and a knock.
This season has unfortunately been rather frustrating for the striker too, with another muscle injury in September ruling him out for three weeks and a further three games, then a hip flexor issue flared up just a few weeks after his return to rule him out for a further 34 days and seven matches.
The player then picked up a minor muscle injury in late January, which ruled him out of his side's 5-2 defeat to Bayer Leverkusen, the 3-0 win over Union Berlin and the defeat to Rangers in the Europa League through the month of February.
Worse followed at the beginning of March. With Haaland poised to make a return after injury, he sustained a fresh problem that will see him miss out until the beginning of April - a run of three fixtures for BVB.
After missing 14 matches due to injury in 2020/21, he will miss at least 19 in the 2021/22 campaign.
