This September, Borussia Dortmund decided to revitalize their attack but they kept the ‘winning formula‘ – to have an African striker. After Sebastien Haller, they shopped Guinean Serhou Guirassy from Stuttgart. That also meant that a departure of Ivorian striker was on the cards, considering his rocky time in Dortmund, marked with testis cancer. He tried to get some more playing time while Dortmund wanted to get him off the wage bill, so he moved to Legranes in Serie A on a loan last September. But things didn‘t end well, as he only played in eight of the 18 possible matches for the Spanish first division club, only once for the full 90 minutes and failed to score a single goal. So, both parties decided to call it quits and the club in which Haller felt most comfortable called, and he gladly excepted.Welkom thuis, Sébastien Haller! ❤️🤍 pic.twitter.com/7KjoUSadIy— SV FC Utrecht (@SVFCUtrecht) January 9, 2025 “One day I will come back here. Then I will play for FC Utrecht again” said the Ivorian striker in 2017, when he signed for Frankfurt. Now, after seven years and 74 league goals, he is back on a half-season loan.”Nobody saw this coming. I’m extremely grateful that it worked out. It feels like coming home. It is of course very nice when you walk into a place where you have good memories. You see familiar people, the familiar streets through the city. It just gives you a very nice feeling. Everyone knows my situation. I wanted to play again, to show myself somewhere for five months. I am now thirty years old and have already experienced a lot. To go somewhere for five months and temporarily leave your wife and children behind is not easy. Actually, there was only one club I wanted to go to for such a short period. If it had not been Utrecht, it would have been difficult to take a step like this” said Haller to the official website.”Dortmund title loss was harder to accept than my illness”In his first term as the Utrecht striker, he scored 30 goals in 65 games in a period of two years, before going to Eintracht Frankfurt, where he became a Bundesliga force (33 goals in 77 games). That period allowed him a big money transfer to West Ham, where he couldn‘t fit in properly and he came back to German football via Ajax, where he played prior to 2022 (58 games, 43 goals).BUNDESLIGA MATCHDAY 16Friday22:30: (2.90) Dortmund (3.60) Leverkusen (2.50)Saturday17:30: (1.42) Freiburg (4.60) Holstein Kiel (7.50)17:30: (3.20) Heidenheim (3.40) Union Berlin (2.40)17:30: (2.45) Hoffenheim (3.60) Wolfsburg (2.95)17:30: (1.55) Mainz (4.10) Bochum (6.25)17:30: (3.60) St.Pauli (3.45) Eintr.Frankfurt (2.05)20:30: (6.75) M’ gladbach (5.30) Bayern (1.45)Sunday 17:30: (1.80) RB Leipzig (3.60) Werder (4.60)19:30: (3.60) Augsburg (3.50) Stuttgart (2.05)***odds are subject to change***
