His contract doesn’t end with Dortmund until 30th June 2024, so this isn’t like a free transfer situation where his registration transfers over at the expiry of his contract at the end of June.
We’re agreeing a transfer with Dortmund, which can be agreed at any time, and his registration can transfer over to us as soon as the Transfer window opens. Like with Torres in January, where Barcelona negotiated the deal with us in December to transfer over on 1st Jan.
His deal with Dortmund has a release clause for this summer, which means as soon as it’s triggered, they have to put the offer to the player - and if he accepts, they have to agree at the set price.
That’s the theory. The reality is a club will only trigger the clause once they’ve already agreed a deal with the player.
Where the ambiguity comes in is when the deadline for the clause to be triggered kicks in. Is it at the end of the summer window, or the end of June - or the end of April, as dons are saying.
I don’t think anyone knows for sure.