Sébastien Haller leaves Dortmund for Utrecht after stint marked by cancer recovery and near-misses

DORTMUND, Germany (AP) — Sébastien Haller's eventful three years at Borussia Dortmund ended Monday with a transfer to Dutch club Utrecht.

It ended a stint with the German club which began with a cancer diagnosis but during his time there Haller almost won the Bundesliga, reached the final of the Champions League, and won the African Cup of Nations with Ivory Coast.

He found himself increasingly sidelined at Dortmund, though, and spent last season on loan.

“Sébastien has written a special story here,” Dortmund sporting director Sebastian Kehl said in a statement Monday.

Weeks after signing for Dortmund in 2022, and before playing a game, Haller was diagnosed with a testicular tumor during the team's preseason camp. After two operations and a course of chemotherapy, he returned to action just six months later.

Nine Bundesliga goals from Haller in the second half of the 2022-23 season put Dortmund on the verge of a long-awaited Bundesliga title but the team fell short in the final minutes of the season.

Injuries and inconsistent form meant Haller's role in the Champions League final a year later was as a late substitute when Dortmund lost 2-0 to Real Madrid. It was to be his last game for Dortmund before loans last season with Leganes in Spain and then Utrecht.

Haller returns on a one-season contract to familiar surroundings at Utrecht, where his prolific scoring a decade ago helped to launch his career. He scored six times in 18 games on loan there last season to help the team finish fourth in the Dutch league, which put the team into the Europa League qualifying rounds.

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FILE - Dortmund's Sebastien Haller reacts after failing to score a penalty kick during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and FSV Mainz 05 in Dortmund, Germany, Saturday, May 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Michael Probst, file)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump plans to pardon former Puerto Rico Gov. Wanda Vázquez, a White House official said Friday.

Vázquez pleaded guilty last August to a campaign finance violation in a federal case that authorities say also involved a former FBI agent and a Venezuelan banker. Her sentencing was set for later this month.

Federal prosecutors had been seeking one year behind bars.

The official who confirmed the planned pardon indicated Trump, a Republican, saw the case as political prosecution and said the investigation into Vázquez, a Republican aligned with the pro-statehood New Progressive Party, had begun 10 days after she endorsed Trump in 2020. The official wasn’t authorized to reveal the news by name and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Vázquez, an attorney, was the U.S. territory’s first former governor to plead guilty to a crime, specifically accepting a donation from a foreigner for her 2020 political campaign. She was arrested in 2022.

FILE - Governor Wanda Vázquez speaks at a press conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico, May 21, 2020. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti, File)