Borussia Dortmund defender Leonardo Balerdi closing in on Olympique Marseille move
Leonardo Balerdi never really found his footing with Borussia Dortmund and could be on his way out less than two years after joining the club.
Leonardo Balerdi joined Borussia Dortmund in January of 2019 for approximately €15 million from Boca Juniors. At the time of the transfer it was a rather large sum of money for a relatively unknown talent. Balerdi has never featured much in Dortmund, only making 8 appearances for the first team. Most of those appearances came off the bench, with his only start coming in the 4-0 defeat to Hoffenheim on the final day of the season.
French side Olympique Marseille have been linked with Balerdi in recent weeks and the interest has seemed to heat up in the past few days. L’Equipe are reporting that Marseille and Dortmund are in the final stages of their negotiations. As long as there aren’t any hiccups Balerdi will likely be joining the french side. They believe it will be an initial loan with the option to buy him after the season. The reported fee is approximately €15 million which would mean Dortmund would recoup their initial investment. That in itself could be viewed as a win in the current economic climate.
Next. Four players who left Borussia Dortmund too soon. dark
This has been a recently discuss topic and Zorc was quoted speaking on this subject earlier saying that even if Balerdi were to leave, Borussia Dortmund wouldn’t be looking to bring in a replacement. This potentially opens up the door to a younger player potentially getting some experience. 16 year old Nnamdi Collins is regarded as one of Dortmund’s most highly touted youngsters and if they run into injury trouble it could mean some time with the first team for him.