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Hi guys! Welcome to another episode of "Has Borussia Dortmund bought every football player in Europe under the age of 23 yet?"
He’s this week’s fresh transfer rumors:
Transfers In:
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Mateo Kovacic
Current club: Real Madrid
Position: Central midfield
Rumored price: 20 million Euros
Likelihood: Spanish media are reporting it, but they’re also reporting interest from Juventus and AC Milan.
Do we need him: I like him. He’s a young, decent player. He’s a deadly eight, but error prone. He’d be a great Gündogan replacement.
Besides, I like the implications of buying from Barca, Bayern AND Real this season.
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Riccardo Saponara
Current club: FC Empoli
Position: Attacking midfield
Rumored price: 15 million Euros
Likelihood: Italian sources are reporting our interest, but they don't seem totally reliable.
Do we need him: He’s being touted as a Mkhitaryan replacement. But regardless of whether or not Mkhitaryan extends, I think we have enough people in the AM. Saponara's stats aren't that impressive either, so I dunno.
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Olekrandr Zinchenko
Current club: FK Ufa (Russia)
Position: Attacking midfield
Rumored price: 4 million Euros
Likelihood: We’ve been linked with him for a while, and the rumors aren’t going away.
Do we need him: We might be going FIFA career mode with all these U19 wonderkids, but why not?
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Ogenyi Onazi
Current club: Lazio
Position: Central midfield
Rumored price: 4.5 million Euros
Likelihood: Italian sources
Do we need him: He’s cheap, he’s 23, and we do need a CM. It might work.
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Jürgen Damm
Current club: Tigres (Mexico)
Position: Striker/right wing
Rumored price: 4 million Euros
Likelihood: Mexican media is reporting some interest, but there's nothing from Kicker or RN yet, so I’m skeptical.
Do we need him: He’s really fast and a decent winger - but do we really need another winger?
Transfer Updates:
Alexander Dragovic
Looks like he’s joining Bayer Leverkusen. That’s a shame.
Ömer Toprak
Not this season. WZT (Watzke/Zorc/Tuchel) think it’s better to wait an year for his release clause to activate.
Shkodran Mustafi
According to Spanish media, we’re still in contact with his agent.
Timo Werner
According to SPORTBILD (who, I’ll admit, have been surprisingly reliable so far), we’re still very interested.
Transfers Out:
There was a fair bit of drama about "all the players who are leaving us" this week.
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Mkhitaryan to Arsenal
Likelihood: Arsenal fans are pretty excited and already discussing formations. All .co.uk rumor mills are publishing articles by the dozen, and seem to think Miki has refused a contract extension.
On the other hand, Zorc’s response was basically "What are you talking about? We don’t know anything about Miki refusing to extend." (Probably not the actual words, but courtesy SPORTBILD.) The club later confirmed that we have no plans to sell Auba or Miki this transfer season.
Comments: Dortmund fans seem pretty divided about Miki. Some want to keep him by any means necessary, even if it means he’ll leave on a free next year. Some want to sell him if he doesn’t extend.
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Aubameyang to Manchester City
Likelihood: Di Marzio
Again, fans are divided. Some people think Di Marzio is speaking out of his arse, while some people think he’s a reputable source. But (see above), the club has made a statement that we will not be selling Auba.
Comments: LOL
But at the same time, if the rumors of City's bid of 130 million Euros are correct... damn that’s a lot of money. That’s enough money to buy a small country, or pay Zlatan’s salary.
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Ramos to China
Likelihood: SPORTBILD again, but seems likely.
Comments: Probably the best move for the club and him right now.
Anyway, that’s all for this week folks!
I don’t know if I can keep up with this much longer. I want off WZT’s wild ride.