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The World Cup has come and gone. What an exciting trip it’s been. The only thing that really made sense was that a heavy favorite came out on top. Everything before that was just beautiful chaos. With international football done for the time being, it’s time to set our sights back on Borussia Dortmund.
- Mario Mandžukić bid rejected
Italian outlets CalcioMercato and Sky Italia along with German outlet Bild are both reporting that Borussia Dortmund made a bid for the Croatian striker, but said bid was rejected by his club Juventus. Mandžukić, age 32, is coming off an excellent run with his country in the World Cup, but a rather subpar season with the Italian giants, playing second (or third) fiddle to Gonzalo Higuaín and Paulo Dybala.
With the addition of Cristiano Ronaldo to the squad, Juventus are almost certain to offload at least one of those names, with Higuaín or Mandžukić being the most likely to receive the axe. Between those two, Dortmund can realistically only afford Mandžukić.
Will it happen? I don’t think so. While Mario has proven to be an aggressive fighter and aerial threat (which, in my opinion, is just what Dortmund needs), I just don’t think it’s wise to gamble on an aging striker with the way the club is doing now, not to mention he used to don the crimson armor of our enemies in Bavaria. Wow. That was a long sentence. Simply put, Dortmund need Batshuayi a top striker who can stay a long time and guarantee goals. Mandžukić doesn’t fit that profile.
- Dortmund CEO shares a few thoughts
While in Vienna for Dortmund’s first friendly match, Hans-Joachim Watzke spoke with Ruhr Nachrichten about the coaching staff, past and present. He expresses his good relationship with Peter Stöger and highlights the fact that the former Köln man had a tough job on his hands coming into the club while it was in such disarray.
Watzke refuses to judge new manager Lucien Favre so soon after his first match, and will wait a little longer until he has a first impression of him. He did, however, say that while Favre coached Borussia Mönchengladbach, he got the feeling that he was appreciated by the fans. Let’s hope that vibe continues with Die Borussen.
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