Borussia Dortmund defender Leonardo Balerdi to have Olympique Marseille medical

There has been a lot of speculation surrounding the future of Leonardo Balerdi and it looks as though the loan to Marseille with the option to buy could be completed soon.

According to RMC Sport, Leonardo Balerdi is set to have his medical with Olympique Marseille on Tuesday and following that, sign his contract with the team ahead of a season long loan deal. This doesn’t come as a surprise, Balerdi and Marseille have been linked pretty heavily over the past week or so.

The biggest question wasn’t if Balerdi would be joining Marseille, but if there would be an option to make the move permanent after the loan. According to RMC Sport, the loan will include the option to buy for a reported €14 million.

That part comes as a bit of a surprise as it was rumoured Michael Zorc was not looking to include a purchase option and Balerdi was only leaving for more game time. Balerdi will certainly get a lot more opportunity to play in France but if there is an option to buy this likely means the end of his time with Dortmund.

If he is successful and has a positive impact then €14 million is not a lot of money for Marseille to make the move permanent. On the other side of things, if Balerdi’s loan isn’t successful there isn’t much of a chance Dortmund will have gained more trust in him to keep him around the next year. The version that could work is if Balerdi impresses and for whatever reason, COVID or otherwise, Marseille isn’t able to meet the €14 million purchase option.

Either way it is good news for Balerdi who was never going to play a big role for Dortmund this season, who will now play on a decent team in Ligue 1 to gain valuable experience.