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Anthony Modeste celebrating a goal for Cologne last season
Photo:
Moritz Mueller / IMAGO
A year ago, Anthony Modeste himself would not have thought it possible that he would become the regular striker for the German runners-up.
At that time, Modeste was a 33-year-old discontinued model, had just completed a Bundesliga season without a goal and had only one goal with 1. FC Köln: to stay up in the league.
Twelve months later, the football world is different.
Modeste shot Cologne almost single-handedly in the European Cup, 20 goals were enough for seventh place.
And Borussia Dortmund, as the eternal Bayern hunter always on the prowl with binoculars, actually signed Ajax Amsterdam’s Sébastien Haller for the storm center as a replacement for Erling Haaland.
His testicular cancer diagnosis, however, threw the squad planning upside down.
A malignant tumor was found in the 28-year-old, and his club will miss him for months.
Because youngster Youssoufa Moukoko, 17 years old, shouldn't shoulder the burden of Haller's deputy alone, a new striker had to be found on an unscheduled basis.
And since Sunday it's clear: This striker's name is Anthony Modeste.
On Monday Modeste completed the medical check in Dortmund, the signing of the contract is imminent.
The spontaneous departure of the life insurance left the people of Cologne upset.
Modeste was a goalscorer, a fan favourite, a flamboyant character.
Cheering glasses, stealing hats from coach Steffen Baumgart, even a song of her own that dates back to Modeste's first time in Cologne between 2015 and 2017, when the striker even scored 25 goals in one season: Modeste and the moments for which he worried, have long been part of the Effzeh folklore.
All the more annoying for 1. FC Köln that the club was never much more than a career springboard, even for Modeste.
2017 to China, 2022 now to Dortmund.
At the beginning of July, Modeste had already flirted with a departure.
"The top earners have to go slowly," the Frenchman rejoiced in the training camp because of the ailing finances of his employer - and the prospects for his own account elsewhere: "I only have a career to win titles, but also to earn money .«
Ideally, both should succeed in Dortmund, and coach Edin Terzić has at least been able to lift the DFB Cup once.
Modeste does not have much time for this, BVB has offered him a one-year contract.
The veteran is strictly intended as Haller's replacement, as a temporary regular.
Modeste will probably score his goals in black and yellow.
In Dortmund's strong team, a striker rarely failed.
Erling Haaland, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Michy Batshuayi, Paco Alcacer, Robert Lewandowski, Lucas Barrios - the list of successful nine players in the recent past is long, and exceptions like Ciro Immobile are few and far between.
Only: If no emergency solution was needed to react to Haller's illness, Modeste would not have played a role in BVB's plans.
This is due to his career path - Modeste has no European Cup experience whatsoever - and also to his age, because Dortmund usually rely on younger players.
Above all, however, it is due to the fact that Modeste, despite all the virtues of a centre-forward, is actually not the type of player that the Westphalians wanted to see at the top.
Only superficially identical
At first glance, Modeste looks like a Haller decal.
One, Modeste, with his 20 Bundesliga goals, the other, Haller, with 21 goals in the Dutch Eredivisie.
Both tall, robust, assertive.
Both shoot at goal similarly often, from similar positions at that.
Modeste a little more often from a distance, Haller a little more often from the five-meter area, but that can also be due to the fact that league leaders Ajax can combine more easily until very close to the opponent's goal than 1. FC Köln.
Only when you take a closer look at the playing styles of the two strikers do you see differences.
Differences that explain why Haller was worth 31 million euros to BVB, while Modeste is probably worth five million euros.
And who, on the other hand, show that the addition of Modeste not only means that the name in the middle of the attack is different, but that the BVB game around the Frenchman must also change.
Haller brings strengths that Modeste lacks: Although the Ivorian takes the majority of his shots at close range, Haller's game in a group is not limited to the penalty area.
Haller is also important around this, processes high but also low passes, cleverly shields the ball and sets the scene for advancing teammates.
Haller is not only a suitable striker for a team like Ajax, in which every single player has to advance the combination game with his skills.
He's also a great teammate for fast, agile strikers: As part of the "buffalo herd" that reached the semi-finals of the Europa League with Eintracht Frankfurt in 2019, Haller worked as a wall player alongside the more explosive Ante Rebić and Luka Jović.
At that time, Haller scored twelve goals across all competitions in one season - two more than Modeste in 156 competitive games for Cologne.
In the past season, Haller gave an average of 1.5 shots on goal in 90 minutes, Modeste came up with just under half (0.7).
With Donyell Malen and Karim Adeyemi, BVB has strikers in the squad who like to be sent down the field themselves.
You can expect little help from the new strike partner Modeste.
Modeste needs the high pass
Modeste is a classic finisher.
A clipper that also wants to be staged.
And preferably with a cross: the newcomer from Dortmund scored ten of 20 goals last season with a header, just one goal was missing to equal the Bundesliga record set by Sergej Barbarez and BVB icon Jan Koller.
Accordingly, coach Baumgart tailored the game to Modeste's strengths: Effzeh took 505 crosses out of the game in the previous season, the league-wide top value.
Borussia Dortmund preferred to play the ball into the foot of their own attackers, 224 crosses in the past season mean the penultimate place in the league comparison.
A real flank specialist is missing from the Dortmund squad so far, desired left-back David Raum decided to switch to RB Leipzig.
The transfer window isn't closed yet.
It is conceivable that BVB will follow suit, "Sky Sports" reports, for example, that Chelsea's Callum Hudson-Odoi would like to be loaned, who would be able to feed Modeste with passes.
It is possible that Malen and Adeyemi will also grow more into the support role.
If that doesn't work, Dortmund could experience one of their rare storm disappointments.
