The Hive: How should Borussia Dortmund engineer their summer overhaul?
Critty Smith
Dortmund need some major changes for the upcoming season as it pertains to their personnel. Holdover players from the Klopp era have long-since outlived their usefulness both tactically and performance-wise.
Below are the transactions I would like to see happen this summer to move Borussia Dortmund in the right direction. This is based solely on what would happen if I controlled the BVB purse strings. Enjoy!
Players on their way out:
Sokratis, Jeremy Toljan, Gonzalo Castro, Nuri Sahin, Andriy Yarmolenko, Sebastian Rode
Sokratis – He is an aging defender who cannot recover when he is caught out of position. He ball watches far too often, loses his marker in crucial situations, and has generally outlived his usefulness. All he is good for at this point is fighting. Selling him for the most I can get.
Toljan – I never liked this piece of business. He has been embarrassed more times than I can count by opposing attackers. For me personally, he is not suited for a top-table side.
Castro – There is still a bit of value for Castro, but not with Dortmund. He is the definition of “average” at just about everything. Average speed, average size, average abilities. Dortmund wants to be great? Then the average must go.
Sahin – This is long overdue. There are too many reasons to list as to why Sahin should be sold for any offer you receive. Either retire this season from Borussia Dortmund or finish your career with FC Ingolstadt.
Yarmolenko – This was a total panic-buy to replace Ousmane Dembélé. I have news for you, he ain’t even close to fulfilling that role. Such a shame we wasted good money on a player that was bought as a cheap filler.
Rode – I am still on the fence about this one because we have never really seen what he is capable of for the Black and Yellows. He is constantly injured and has missed every match of the current campaign. At this point, I am leaning towards moving Rode out.
Players to be brought in
Timo Werner (not happening), Michy Batshuayi (not likely either), Divock Origi, Philipp Max, Jonathan Tah, Mitchell Weiser
Werner – My dream purchase. It is not happening. But my goodness, what if it did? Let me dream, please. I can see the 20 goals next season in my head now……beautiful.
Batshuayi – This young Belgian has been just like the waffles from that same country: AMAZING. If Chelsea would let me, I would give them top dollar value for this prolific striker. He has fit in at BVB like a perfectly-sized glove.
Origi – If Batshuayi departs for London, this is my replacement for him. He is young, physically gifted, and no longer fits in at his home club Liverpool. A change of scenery could do wonders for Origi. Everyone deserves a second chance after playing in the hell that is Wolfsburg. He would also be quite affordable.
Max – This addresses our left-back issues and lets Raphael Guerreiro move into the midfield, which I feel is a better fit for him. Max would also allow Marcel Schmelzer to take a reduced role, as he enters the twilight of his career.
Tah – This move would nearly complete the re-tooling of our battered central defense. Tah, Akanji, Toprak, and Zagadou would make a solid four-man rotation. I may be greedy, but I would like to add one more central defender to the fray at some point, if for no other reason than depth.
Weiser – I am satisfied with his progression at Hertha and would love to invite the young right-back to the Ruhr. Much like the situation with Max and Schmelzer, this would help alleviate pressure off of Lukasz Piszczek, allowing him to move into more of a squad rotational role as he finishes his brilliant career with die Schwarz-Gelben.