BVB got off the Ziyech boat because he is getting too expensive. The thing is he is exactly the kind of player we need: a creative dribbler. Even if he costs 60M, he is a better purchase than Hazard at half that price.
We are being linked to Nico Schulz. He is basically Raphael Gurreiro, strong up the pitch weak behind. Given that we dont have outstanding CBs, I dont understand why we keep getting the same kind of LBs. If Bürki decides to leave us, we are sooo incredibly fücked.
A lot of clubs will be buying these Ajax players, I dont think Thorgan has it in him, If you cant get Ziyech, go for Neres
Hazard has given BVB a double commitment. If they can agree on a price then he'll join this summer otherwise next summer for free. BVB have come to their senses and are realizing that 40M for him is a joke. They want Eberl to get attuned to reality. Let him come for free. We can spend the 40M on someone else.
This is where I criticise the board, because they can't sense when the opportunity arises to take the gamble and spend big. This is the weakest the CL has ever been and we had a realistic chance of getting to a semi-final. The club needed to pay over the odds to bring in a quality attacking player in January. Brandt should have been that signing, now he is impossible to get. Offer Leverkusen 50 million if you had too, but had Brandt been at Dortmund then we would have won the league and possibly made the CL quarters or semi. Now we are heading into a new season with average talent like Thorgan. Also there's no better talent we could possibly even come close to getting that Dahoud and Weigl. Nobody even close, to that level of talent. We need to develop them. The same with our CBs.
What I read is that he even said he wants to return as fast as possible. So if Madrid has a need, he is gone and at best we are his second choice when his "dream" falls apart. That is pretty much what everyone here expected anyways. But comments like these make me wonder how you can even work with guys that have an attitude like this. Hakimi had many great and important moments for us but that feels a bit like the problems with Januzaj when I think Zorc said that his mind/focus was never in Dortmund.
He is still a Madrid player on loan, not a shocker that he says wants to go back and play for everyone's dream club RM when asked. Taking players on loan works two ways, they are not 100% committed to the club and we are not 100% committed to giving them playing time to develop. CP has the same halffcked attitude after he was sold and loaned back, I wonder if he will put in a shift if needed in the last few games. Whether Hakimi stays or not we have to get two or three fullbacks and plan ahead.
Madrids full backs are Carvajal, Marcelo, Odriozola, and Ruggelion...then you have Theo Hernandzez on loan too. That's a lot of competition even if Marcelo leaves.
Kicker says our interest in Brandt has increased. I would have been surprised if the club didn't at least consider him because of his release clause. He would be cheaper than the rumored fee for T.Hazard. We'd be more attractive for him if Leverkusen doesn't play in Europe next year, of course. I suppose 4 wingers + Reus (not counting Wolf and Schürrle) aren't too many but Brandt might also be considered as an option for a 3 man midfield. Favre certainly tried that without success several times.
We need something more on the wings, Sancho gets a lot of attention. I would love to see some type of option opposite of him.
Werner is going to Bayern. I am not confident in securing Brandt either, he will get better offers from the Premier League. We need to be looking at younger players, like Sanch/Dembele/Isak/Mor/Pulisic again. Some will be successes others will be failures, but unless we are getting top tier talent like Werner, Zaha or Brandt, which is very unlikely then take the gamble with the kids. We should be giving academy players more of a chance too.
Brandt sounds like is getting more into detail now. Would be quite an steal at 25 mil. € and would surely help you guys a lot in terms of creativity. On the other hand, Nico Schulz sounds like your typical Dortmund transfer afterall: quality slightly above the likes of Schmelzer and waaaay to expensive. At the rumoured money this would be hilarious.
I never thought of Schulz as a top player. He seems to get rated highly but I don't really see it. There are often moments when he looks technically lacking, in other scenes it's obvious how he would be a definite improvement for us, at least going forward. I'd rather enjoy the elegance of Hakimi or Guerreiro, though. Leverkusen bought Demirbay for 32 million. It's not common for them to spend in that region. I don't think they'd do it without selling players. It turns out it's van de Beek that Dortmund is interested in. But the rumored fees that are mentioned for the Ajax players are way higher than what we are usually willing to play.
The Hazard deal is supposed to follow soon for a fee below 30 million €. The signs for Guerreiro seem to point to him leaving the club. At worst he'd be a reliable and relatively mature second option on the wings. He did harmonize pretty well technically with Reus and Götze. There were a few games when they just clicked which made for some nice football and they fit well together when you have to play with not much space given.