Michael Zorc: Reinier not physically ready to play for Borussia Dortmund yet

Michael Zorc has commented on the status of new signing Reinier Jesus, who joined Borussia Dortmund on a two year loan deal earlier this month.

After a mixed bag of results in the Traditions Cup in Duisburg on Saturday, Borussia Dortmund sporting director Michael Zorc spoke about the three players who missed the trip. Marco Reus, Mahmoud Dahoud and Reinier Jesus all trained individually in Dortmund, and will be aiming to reach full fitness ahead of the start of the new season.

While Reus and Dahoud are working their way back from injuries, Reinier is looking to get back to match fitness having not played since March. And Michael Zorc has given an update on the trio’s fitness.

"“I hope that they (Reus, Dahoud and Reinier) can do some parts of the team training in the coming week to get closer to playing,” Zorc said in an interview with Sky. “In the case of Reinier, we have a slightly longer-term approach. Because he hasn’t played for a long time and Real Madrid prepared for the Champions League without him, he has a lot of catching up to do.”“It will take a while before he is physically ready to help us. He’s not in top physical condition yet, and we’ll get him there in the next few weeks.”"

Reinier joined Real Madrid in January, and hasn’t played for the senior team yet. He has only made three appearances since the turn of the year, and that too for their second team. Zorc’s words suggest that it might be some time before Lucien Favre can use the 18 year old in his squad.

Zorc also discussed the prospect of Borussia Dortmund returning to a back four for the upcoming season. Lucien Favre switched to a back three in the middle of last season, but suggestions are that we could see the return of four at the back.

"“Over the course of last season we switched from four-man to three-man chains, but recently we have been training and rehearsing in the four-man chain. Our squad can play both.”“At the time when we made the switch, we were conceding a lot of goals. We couldn’t get the back of the shop closed, to be honest. That was one of the reasons we put on an extra defender. Thomas Meunier and Mateu Morey, who has made a good leap forward, can play both (formations), so the coach has the opportunity to switch between the two systems,”"

Zorc also spoke about the prospect of potential transfers at Borussia Dortmund. And while he refused to rule anything out, he said that the majority of the Black and Yellows’ transfer business has already been done.

"“You can hear that something is in the pipeline at one or the other club. For us it’s not that important because we’ve already done most of what we wanted to do. There may be one or two changes, but nothing major.”"

The transfer window does not close until October 05, and some out of favour players could still leave Borussia Dortmund before then. Marius Wolf and Felix Passlack are two such players. When asked about their futures, Zorc said: “They are both part of the squad and completely integrated into the team. We’ll see what the next few weeks bring”.

The 57 year old also praised midfielder Taylan Duman, who has been involved in the last two pre-season friendlies for Borussia Dortmund. “He impressed with the U23s last year, scored some goals and prepared some as well. He’s an interesting kid we’re still watching his progress,” Zorc said.