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Well, the rare BVB winter transfer seems to be happening. Blick are reporting that the deal is done for the 22-year-old Basel defender Manuel Akanji. 20 million Euros plus bonuses is the reported fee.
BLICK EXKLUSIV +++ MANUEL AKANJI ZU BORUSSIA DORTMUND +++ 21,5 MIO EURO ABLÖSE MIT ALLEN BONI +++ BVB UND BASEL EINIG +++ SPIELER VIA SCHWEIZ AUF DEM WEG NACH DORTMUND +++
— Andreas Böni (@AndreasBoeni) January 13, 2018
Akanji has been connected to BVB for a while, and it seems Zorc finally got his man. With constant injuries to the back line this year adding a new defender will relieve some of our defensive issues.
I can’t claim to watch the Swiss league, but below are some impressive highlights of the defender (with the ever present EDM music in every soccer highlight video ever made).
While 22 is actually old for the normal BVB transfer, Akanji still has much potential. With a big team in a major league, Akanji can grow quickly. However there might also be some growing pains, especially because he’s coming after our winter camp is over.
Stoger will have his work cut out for him getting the central defender up to speed and ready in case we have any quick injuries to one of our current CBs.