Bundesliga
Quiet start to the next title mission: BVB in a transfer jam
Dortmund’s coach Edin Terzic has started the pre-season with his team. photo
© Christian Charisius/dpa
BVB quietly started the next attack on the championship title. Not only for coach Edin Terzic there is still a lot of work to do. Sluggish transfers reduce anticipation.
Almost six weeks after losing the championship on the last day, Borussia Dortmund is making another attempt at the title. But until the start of the new season is not only waiting for football teachers Edin Terzic and the team still have a lot of work to do. Likewise, Sebastian Kehl is in great demand.
After eight departures so far and only two new signings, the sporting director still has a lot to do when putting together the new squad. In addition, the discussion about the controversial commitment of Felix Nmecha does not exactly contribute to a spirit of optimism.
Whirl around Nmecha
Concerned about the critical reaction of many fans, who had described two social media posts shared by Nmecha and quickly deleted as homophobic and anti-queer, the club management went on the offensive. In the announcement about the transfer, managing director Hans-Joachim Watzke and president Reinhold Lunow assured that the 22-year-old midfielder from VfL Wolfsburg, who costs around 30 million euros, had “absolutely convinced them in intensive discussions that he had no transphobic or homophobic ideas “.
And Nmecha himself tried to calm down: “I think some things have been taken out of context. I’m a Christian, love everyone and don’t discriminate against anyone. I hope the fans will give me the chance to get to know me.”
With so much excitement, Nmecha was the focus of media interest at the start of preparations on Wednesday. However, Terzic will have to wait for the second BVB signing Ramy Bensebaini for the time being. The left-back (28), who was signed on a free transfer from Mönchengladbach, is not expected until July 15 after his assignment for the Algerian national selection in June. The same applies to almost a dozen other national players from the BVB squad such as Emre Can, Julian Brandt and Marius Wolf.
Serious departures
The departures of young star Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid) and scorer guarantor Raphael Guerreiro (Bayern Munich) weigh particularly heavily. Actually Edson Álvarez should help to compensate for this loss of quality. However, the planned €40 million transfer of the Mexican international from Ajax Amsterdam did not materialize after allegedly promising negotiations. A report by “Sport Bild”, according to which coach Terzic in particular is said to have spoken out against the 25-year-old’s commitment last week, was commented on by BVB. Nevertheless, the search for a strong defensive midfielder continues. In the event that Thomas Meunier leaves the club as planned, Kehl will also have to keep an eye out for a right-back.
Unlike last summer, when the sports director caused a lot of attention early on with the commitments of Niklas Süle, Nico Schlotterbeck, Karim Adeyemi and Salih Özcan, Kehl is currently having to live with headlines about a transfer backlog. It fits the picture that there is currently little movement on the departures side with candidates like Meunier, Thorgan Hazard and Nico Schulz.
The captain’s question is still unresolved. Rumors persist that the previous captain Marco Reus is resigning before his possibly last year as a professional. Traditionally, Terzic decides on the composition of the team council in the last third of the preparation. National player Can and goalkeeper Gregor Kobel are traded as favorites for a possible Reus successor.