Borussia Dortmund Belgian duo likely to stay with the club this season

Borussia Dortmund’s Belgian duo of Thorgan Hazard and Thomas Meunier are increasingly likely to stay with the club for this season, per reports.

With the summer transfer window slowly winding down, and with the focus shifting towards squad stability for the season, the fate of two of Dortmund’s players may be to stay with the club, despite it’s initial efforts to move them on this summer. Thorgan Hazard and Thomas Meunier are looking like they will be Dortmund players this season unless anything changes in the coming week.

Starting with Meunier, Dortmund have been very clear about their stance regarding the former Brugge and PSG right back: the player doesn’t have a future at the club. That being said, the player’s injury during pre-season has stifled the club’s plans to get him off their payroll, as clubs are unlikely to be interested in obtaining the services of a player his age that can’t help the team from the moment he joins. General interest has been reported to be coming from Sevilla per Sport1, and it looks like Sebastian Kehl will continue to look for a solution for Meunier’s situation until the window closes, however.

Per Hazard’s situation, the Belgian winger has seen his importance to his side increase since pre-season, with the player seen as t depth option by Edin Terzić. According to reports, Hazard has impressed Terzić in training and therefore will be part of Dortmund’s plans for the coming season.

Hazard’s change in fortunes makes sense considering the player’s work ethic, but also his versatility. The Belgian international is able to play as a wing-back and a winger, making him a good option for rotation. Dortmund’s current crop of fullbacks are also more conservative than the outgoing Raphael Guerreiro, and perhaps if Terzić is able to convert Hazard and get the best out of him on the filed, we may see a very solid shift in output from Hazard in the long run. This wouldn’t be the first time an attacker made his name as a fullback in Dortmund either. Dortmund legend Łukasz Piszczek spent his early days as a striker, only to become the most complete right back Dortmund had seen in well over a decade.

Of course, it’s far too early to make any comparisons between Piszczek and Hazard, and its no guarantee that the Belgian will reach the level of output or consistency the former Polish international had at the height of his powers (particularly due to Hazard’s age) but the concept remains the same. The hope would have been for Dortmund to actually invest in a proper full-back (particularly on the right flank) to really make the position their own, however if the club is unable or unwilling to do so, having an experienced player like Hazard for depth might not be a bad thing at all. His versatility may allow him to re-discover some of the form and performances that made him such an exciting singing back in 2019.