Madrid, Barca and Man City on alert - Would sacking Rose encourage Haaland to stay at Dortmund?

FT Desk
FT Desk
  • 19 Feb 2022 13:01 CST
  • 7 min read
Erling Haaland during Dortmund's defeat to Freiburg in Bundesliga
© ProShots

Borussia Dortmund may still be sitting comfortable in second place in the Bundesliga, but all is not well at the Westfalenstadion.

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Thursday’s embarrassing 4-2 defeat to Rangers in the Europa League would have been a result that sent heads spinning in isolation but it was little more than the latest in a growing lust of worrying results from Marco Rose’s side.

Indeed, the Black and Yellows now find themselves out of the Champions League, German Cup and could soon be sent packing in the Europa League too. And despite only being six points off Bayern Munich in the German top-flight, there’s little hope of Dortmund mounting a serious title challenge.

Such frustrations were clear for all to see on Thursday night, when Sky Sports Deutschland reported that the club held a crisis meeting with Rose and the backroom staff over ways to bring a halt to the season spiralling out of control.

Although Dortmund quickly denied the story, there’s little doubt that Dortmund could be on the cusp of bringing in a new head coach. And that could have huge ramifications for Erling Haaland.

Would a new manager stop Haaland from leaving?

While it may seem logical for Haaland to be infused by a new head coach turning Dortmund’s form around, the opposite may in fact be the case.

Not only does the Norway international have a history with Rose, having worked under him at RB Salzburg, but Haaland may also be committed to the current Dortmund head coach and his current project.

Whether Haaland leaves this summer or in 2023, the striker would likely prefer to work under the current head coach and his project rather than start all over again under another manager.

As such, Dortmund wiping the slate clean and starting again under another coach would perhaps encourage Haaland to draw a line under his time at Dortmund rather than commit to another project.

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