Opinion: Why Borussia Dortmund shouldn't sell Karim Adeyemi this summer
By Eli Brand
Injuries
Adeyemi was sidelined and missed a friendly against Ajax at the start of last season. This was part of a larger number of injuries at the start of last season for multiple clubs going to the United States for pre-season, with pitches laid over turf and travel there were many added risks for players.
With Dortmund playing in Asia this coming summer, travel would still be an issue, but pitches should at least be built for football rather than the American Football pitches having grass laid over turf. A second injury occurred following a Champions League match in which Adeyemi scored against PSG. It was Adeyemi’s second start of the week after going a month without a start.
Adeyemi’s inconsistent usage and being rushed back from injury to start the campaign made his year look significantly worse. He was visibly struggling for fitness. This meant as he was physically built up for the season, he lacked the same preparation as other players and struggled. Adeyemi had a very poor first 336 league and UCL minutes. Averaging under 40 minutes per appearance, Adeyemi looked to be off his game with .27 npxG+xAG per 90 during that period.
That ended well below his Champions League numbers of .41 p90 and .54 in the league. Essentially, Adeyemi had a decent season aside from injuries caused by inconsistent usage as he received sporadic minutes for months before being asked to play over 80 minutes twice in a week with a third substitute appearance in between while recovering from another injury.
Adeyemi could become injury prone if he is mismanaged. Luckily, in the second half of the season, the club appeared to adjust to that. He had fewer appearances over 80 minutes and when he was asked to go deeper into games it was on the back of a full week's rest. This allowed him to build up and maintain his match fitness. If treated responsibly, Adeyemi should be able to stay fit longer, perform to his talent level for longer into games and stay fit more consistently through the season.