Some loans are about survival. This one is about rescue.
Almugera Kabar needs to play. A move to the Netherlands could finally hand him that stage. Borussia Dortmund have hunted the right home for him for a while, and one has seemingly appeared.
The 20-year-old left-back has been stuck. He slid out of Niko Kovač's first-team plans, then spent most of last season with the reserves.
It almost changed in winter. He had bought into Merlin Polzin's Hamburg project. A loan with an option to buy looked set, then it collapsed over his fitness. He did not fail the medical, for the record.
Why the Netherlands fits him
The Eredivisie has long been a runway for young defenders. Minutes come easier there. The football is open. It rewards a full-back who loves to get forward.
Better still, his reported new club is in the Champions League picture this season. Ruhr Nachrichten name a Dutch side that finished at least third in the Eredivisie. Picture that. A kid who barely played in Dortmund could soon walk out for a European night.
That is the sort of jump that hardens a career. Not reserve football. The proper stuff, under pressure, in front of big crowds.
What BVB gets out of it
This is how Dortmund operate. Blood a talent, send him out to toughen up, then bring him back stronger or sell him on. BVB Buzz has traced that youth-first recruitment drive all summer.
Kabar had suitors before, too. Brentford once weighed a move worth about €20m, off barely 135 Bundesliga minutes. His ability was never the doubt. Game time was.
He also delivered when asked. Four goals in ten Regionalliga games last autumn is tidy work for a defender. BVB Buzz has profiled him among a rising group at the club.
A year abroad could bring the lot together. The pace of senior football. European nights. A left-back who plays every week instead of drifting. That is the whole idea.
Verdict: A season of Dutch first-team football would do far more for Kabar than another year stuck in the reserves.
Likelihood: 4/5 - talks have run for weeks and the pull of Champions League football is tough to refuse.
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