Christoph Zimmermann: “It was a massive step from Borussia Dortmund II to the Premier League but I’m loving it”
BM: You clearly had some great experiences with BVB, could you ever imagine coming back to BVB?
CZ: If I could choose then Dortmund would always be a great club to play for. I have quite a special connection with the city and the place. I have lots of good memories from my time there. Like moving into my first flat, meeting my wife and playing with some great guys, many of whom I’m still in contact with now.
Dortmund has a special place for me for sure actually ironically more than Mönchengladbach even though I just had three years there, as opposed to eight at the Borussia Park.
BM: Which players would you like to highlight from that time at BVB? I’m certainly thinking Felix Passlack, it must have been pretty cool when he came over to join you guys here in Norwich?
CZ: Even though it was just one year it was quite surreal seeing Felix on the training pitch, yes, I really enjoyed that and I am glad to see him playing for the first team at BVB too. You know Felix is a top player, he is always in a good mood, always very supportive, even though he didn’t play too much for us in that season.
I mean, it was just the season where everything sort of worked well for us. Aarons was playing right back. And unfortunately, Felix was just the second option on that position. Max was always fit, always playing well. So Felix didn’t get to play too many games. But despite that, he was always positive, a great team member to have around. It was especially great to see Felix lift the DFB-Pokal last season. I was really happy for him.
In terms of former BVB II players, I also keep in touch with my former colleague Patrick Mainka who is currently with 1. FC Heidenheim. Especially two seasons ago when they were knocking on the door of the Bundesliga and reached the playoffs, it was amazing seeing his development.
Apart from that, I am in touch with Hendrik Bonmann who was our keeper at Borussia and he is now with Würzburger Kickers in the 3. Liga, he is a good lad we speak regularly.
BM: Of course, Moritz Leitner also is a former BVB player and Norwich City player?
CZ: Moritz is now at FC Zürich, It’s also a pretty awesome club. I was quite happy to see he moved there. I think it’s good. I think he had some issues with his elbow about a month ago and had to miss one or two games but I am glad to see Moritz playing again. He was one of my close friends from the Norwich team. In the afternoon, after training, we used to regularly catch up with the weekend’s NFL matches at his place or get some dinner in. Moritz is a good friend.