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Who can Borussia Dortmund sign to strengthen their squad in January?

By Brian Szlenk Straub

Genoa's Polish forward Krzysztof Piatek gestures during the Italian Serie A football match Genoa vs Napoli at the Luigi-Ferraris stadium on November 10, 2018 in Genoa. (Photo by Marco BERTORELLO / AFP) (Photo credit should read MARCO BERTORELLO/AFP/Getty Images)
Genoa's Polish forward Krzysztof Piatek gestures during the Italian Serie A football match Genoa vs Napoli at the Luigi-Ferraris stadium on November 10, 2018 in Genoa. (Photo by Marco BERTORELLO / AFP) (Photo credit should read MARCO BERTORELLO/AFP/Getty Images) /
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LISBON, PORTUGAL – SEPTEMBER 19: Alex Grimaldo of SL Benfica with James Rodriguez of Bayern Munchen in action during the UEFA Champions League Group E match between SL Benfica and FC Bayern Munchen at Estadio da Luz on September 19, 2018 in Lisbon, Portugal. (Photo by Gualter Fatia/Getty Images)
LISBON, PORTUGAL – SEPTEMBER 19: Alex Grimaldo of SL Benfica with James Rodriguez of Bayern Munchen in action during the UEFA Champions League Group E match between SL Benfica and FC Bayern Munchen at Estadio da Luz on September 19, 2018 in Lisbon, Portugal. (Photo by Gualter Fatia/Getty Images) /

Alejandro Grimaldo

Alex Grimaldo is a player Borussia Dortmund fans who keep up with transfer news should be familiar with, as we’ve been linked with the player in the past. The Spanish left back currently plies his trade with Benfica, but he is a product of the La Masia academy. Having spent some of his youth with Valencia CF, Barcelona came knocking early on and made him a mainstay in their B team. Despite a bright start, however, injuries limited Grimaldo’s time on the pitch with the club and in January of 2016, he sealed a move to SL Benfica in search of more playing time.

According to Alex Clapham from Outside The Boot, Grimaldo’s playing style is one that boasts a keen eye for a pass and a killer left foot that aids in finding the runs of centre forwards. Clapham also highlights that Grimaldo is also more than willing to join the attack if needed, and with his pacey nature the thought of having Hakimi on one flank and Grimaldo on the other is mouthwatering. I have full confidence that Favre would make Grimaldo a devastating asset to this Dortmund side.

Despite my confidence that Grimaldo would be quite the signing for Dortmund, there are a couple hurdles with this transfer to consider, the first of which being his price tag. According to Transfermarkt, Grimaldo is valued around €25 million, and the reports linking us to him back in May suggested a fee of around €30 million, matching a bid placed by Napoli at the time. While we have paid high fees for defenders in the past, the transfer of Abdou Diallo in the summer proof of this, it is a hefty fee to keep in mind.

The second hurdle I want to mention is his similarity to our own Raphaël Guerreiro. As previously mentioned, “Rapha” hasn’t nailed down a spot in our starting 11, even though we brought him in to play predominantly left back. Lucien Favre prefers to use the Portuguese international higher up the pitch and its unlikely that signing another left back will have an impact on his playing time.

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