Retirement never crossed Haller’s mind as he wanted to play ‘as quickly as possible’

The thought of retiring from football was never on

’s mind when he was diagnosed with cancer in the summer. Instead, the Ivorian striker wanted to play football “as quickly as possible”.

Haller, who has now been given a clean bill of health, underwent chemotherapy and two surgeries before coming back to Dortmund training in recent weeks. The 28-year-old hasn’t still made his debut for BVB since his move from Ajax in the summerو but he is eager to get back into the game as he said:

 "I want to play as quickly as possible. There are no limits and restrictions on my involvement unless the medical staff tell me otherwise.

"[Returning is the] best feeling I could have. I didn't know what the future will bring, but I focused every day on staying fit.

"I can do everything now that I used to do before; that gives me great confidence. I took only 19 days off in the six months. It was hard, but it's my job and I love it."

Haller joined Dortmund in a €34.5million after having scored 34 goals in 43 matches for Ajax last season. The former West Ham and Ajax striker admitted that he never thought about retiring from football after getting diagnosed with cancer.

"[Retiring] was never on my mind,"

he said. 

"I had the mindset of looking forward and taking every day at a time. It was harder for my family, they suffered a lot because they didn't feel in control. They helped me a lot."

Dortmund captain

was also overjoyed by Haller’s return as he said:

"You can probably tell by my laughter, but it gives me goosebumps that he's back on the field," Reus told reporters. "I don't think he needs to say much at all, we were just so happy to have him back.

"I think we all took our hats off to the fight he put up and, above all, that he came back with a strength, with a mental strength that's really strong, and you can see it every day.

"He trains with us all the way; of course, he has a bit of catching up to do, but he pulls it off completely, and it's just a lot of fun to be back on the pitch with him, because of course he gives us a new alternative in the long run, which we perhaps don't have in our game yet.

"And that's why we're all doing well to stay calm, of course, and just give him a little bit of time until he finds his rhythm. That's going to take a little bit of time, but first and foremost just being healthy and playing what he feels most like playing."

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