Borussia Dortmund have confirmed the signing of Germany international forward Karim Adeyemi, just an hour or so after confirmation was received of Erling Haaland’s impending transfer from the Bundesliga club to Manchester City.
Haaland has been one of the most reliable goal threats in Europe since signing for the black and yellow in early 2020 and his departure will leave a void in Dortmund’s attack - so they have moved quickly to ensure some continuity in that area of the pitch.
Adeyemi has been a regular scorer himself and has already effectively replaced Haaland once, making his way into the Red Bull Salzburg first team in Austria following Haaland’s switch from there to Signal Iduna Park.
The 20-year-old has scored 23 goals in 42 appearances across all competitions this season, including three goals in the Champions League group stage.
Adeyemi made his senior international debut for Germany in May last year, scoring off the bench against Armenia, and has gone on to add two further caps this season.
He had been linked to several Premier League clubs, though his agent Thomas Solomon indicated they had rejected Manchester United’s advances in favour of a move back to his homeland.
“Karim Adeyemi is a highly talented, young German international whose strength at the end of our offensive game will look just as good as his extreme speed,” said BVB outgoing sporting director Michael Zorc.
His forthcoming replacement, Sebastian Kehl, added that other bids for Adeyemi had been rejected by the striker: “Following the transfers of Niklas Sule and Nico Schlotterbeck, we’ve got another very exciting player in Karim Adeyemi for the coming season. By the way, one who has a high BVB affinity, whose heart has already beaten for black and yellow as a youngster and who has decided against many offers from the top European leagues in order to be able to play for Borussia Dortmund. His speed and goal threat are impressive, and although Karim is already very far in terms of football and athletics at just 20 years old, we see enormous development potential in him.”
Adeyemi has signed a five-year contract through to 2027, with no release clause expected to be in the deal.
“As a little boy, I was fascinated by black and yellow fast-paced football. That’s why it quickly became clear to me that I would like to switch to BVB when I found out about Dortmund’s interest. I deliberately signed for the long term because I’m convinced that we’ll be an exciting team that, with the support of the fantastic Dortmund fans, will be able to play for and win titles in the medium term,” he told Dortmund’s website.
BVB are set to finish second in this year’s Bundesliga, meaning Champions League football for next season and another attempt to stop rivals Bayern Munich adding to ten straight league championships.
