The wheel of football never stops turning. The one who was one of the star signings of Borussia Dortmund this summer, Sébastien Haller, called to fill the gap left by Erling Braut Haaland in the lead after his departure to Manchester City, will not be able to assume that responsibility. Unfortunately, the detection of testicular cancer will take him off the pitch indefinitely. In this way, the German club was orphaned in the '9' position, the most valued and the most difficult to fill. In an emergency move, those from the Ruhr area have announced an agreement in principle with the Cologne by Anthony Modeste.
The French striker has received the best opportunity of his long football career already in full maturity. The Cologne player turned 34 in April, although his numbers from last season support Dortmund's bet. Modeste scored 20 Bundesliga goals to secure his club a place in the UEFA Conference League. In the elite of German football he has accumulated 190 games and 83 goals with the Cologne and Hoffenheim jerseys. In addition, he passed through Nice, Angers, Girondins de Bordeaux, Blackburn, Bastia, Tianjin Tianhai and Saint-Étienne.
This Monday, according to Kicker, he will pass the medical examination. The German media assures that Borussia Dortmund will pay five million euros to Cologne for the hiring of Modeste, who will wear yellow and black for one season. It is clear that this is a desperate solution to the unexpected loss of Haller, for whom they had paid 31 million to Ajax Amsterdam.
He is one of the most charismatic figures in the competition, known as much for his goals as for his fun character and his celebrations. The most famous, the one in which he stole the cap from his coach, Steffen Baumgart, to put it on himself. Soccer-wise, he is characterized by his corpulence (he is 1.87 meters tall) and his power. He stands out as a header and shows great ability to position himself inside the area and a nose for knowing where the ball is going to land.
For Cologne it was key, and the ways in which he will leave the team angered Baumgart, who left him out of the squad for the opening Bundesliga match. They opened with victory, 3-1 at home to newly promoted Schalke 04. Before the match, aware of the striker's decision to leave the club, he expressed his displeasure at a press conference. "Unfortunately, that's part of our job, there are always other clubs that can pay more, that are bigger than us," he said. He assured that what bothers him is the secrecy and the little margin of reaction that he has left at this point in the transfer market.
Dortmund also made their debut with victory, in their case against a direct rival for the top positions in the standings, Bayer Leverkusen (1-0). The young talent Youssoufa Moukoko acted in the lead, key in the play of the only goal of the match when he put the ball into the area that Marco Reus ended up pushing over the goal line. After the largest transfer window in recent years, the team led by Edin Terzic seemed ready to take a leap in level and compete with Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga. Without Haller, they'll rely on veteran Modeste to get it done.
