Borussia Dortmund confirm signing of Red Bull Salzburg striker Karim Adeyemi in a massive blow to Manchester United – on the same day Dortmund forward Erling Haaland moved to Manchester City
- Red Bull Salzburg star Karim Adeyemi has finalised a move to Borussia Dortmund
- According to journalist Fabrizio Romano, the fee is £32.5million plus add-ons
- German international striker Adeyemi, 20, joins Dortmund on a five-year deal
- Manchester United ‘made an unsuccessful late attempt to sign the wonderkid’
- The news comes on the same day Dortmund’s Erling Haaland moved to Man City
Borussia Dortmund have announced the arrival of Karim Adeyemi, on the same day fellow striker Erling Haaland joined Manchester City.
City confirmed the signing of Haaland from Dortmund on Tuesday for just £51million, £12m less than his release clause, on a bumper five-year £385,000-a-week deal.
And the German side have already sorted out their replacement, with Red Bull Salzburg striker Adeyemi joining on a five-year deal.
According to football journalist Fabrizio Romano, the fee for the 20-year-old wonderkid is around £32.5m.
Manchester United reportedly made a last-ditch attempt to sign Adeyemi, but he rejected their £150,000-a-week contract offer, according to reports in Germany.
The news then comes as a double blow to United, who have not only missed out on a promising young talent but also seen their bitter rivals sign one of the most coveted players in world football.
Borussia Dortmund have confirmed the signing of Red Bull Salzburg striker Karim Adeyemi
The news comes on the same day Manchester City signed Erling Haaland from Dortmund
He said on the move: ‘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.’
In a tweet announcing his signing, Dortmund posted: ‘He’s Karim Adeyemi – He’s Fast – He’s Home,’ with a signing emoji and a clip cutting together several films with characters saying ‘he’s fast’.
The former Bayern Munich academy product has had a breakthrough season with the Austrian side where Haaland also made his name, scoring 23 goals in 42 appearances in all competitions and earning himself a Germany call-up.
Adeyemi’s had a breakthrough season, scoring 23 goals in 42 appearances in all competitions
Norwegian star Haaland also made his name at the Austrian side before joining Dortmund
Adeyemi has since won three caps for Hansi Flick’s side, scoring on his debut in a 6-0 World Cup qualifying victory against Armenia.
He later tweeted: ‘Hello @BlackYellow fans, it is official. I am coming next season to play football and score goals’.
Dortmund chief Sebastian Kehl added: ‘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.
The news comes as a blow to Manchester United and their new manager Erik ten Hag (right), who reportedly made an unsuccessful attempt to hijack Adeyemi’s move to the German side
‘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.’
And Salzburg sporting director Christoph Freund wished Adeyemi well in his future career. He said: ‘I can still remember very clearly when Karim came to us. He was a young, funny and polite fellow with enormous talent.
‘As a player, he then developed tremendously in the four years with us and experienced extraordinary things with us. As a guy, however, Karim has remained the same.
‘His nature has hardly changed to this day and he is still the same down-to-earth, good guy who is extremely popular everywhere. A great person and footballer is leaving us, and we wish him all the best and every success in his future career.’
