The Daily Bee (July 3rd, 2019): The pre-season has officially begun!

• First day of training!

The preparations for the next season have officially begun! Today some of the players have started with various fitness tests before any real training sessions. The first actual game will be on July 12th against FC Schweineberg before the team will travel to the USA on July 15th.

• Schürrle and Kagawa looking for new club (kicker)

BVB’s pre-season has officially started but André Schürrle and Shinji Kagawa are not participating in the first training session because both are looking for a new club. The black and yellows have a bloated roster right now and both don’t have a future with the club. As of right now there don’t seem to be any indications as to where Schèrrle and Kagawa might be playing next season but the transfer window just opened.

Interestingly Jeremy Toljan has joined the team for the first day of training and might get a chance to prove himself during the pre-season.

• Passlack on loan to Sittard

Felix Passlack has returned from his loan spell at Norwich City and has immediately left the club again on loan to Fortuna Sittard. Dortmund hope that Passlack can have a similarly successful loan spell in the Dutch Eredivisie than Alexander Isak did last season. Fortuna Sittard barely avoided relegation last season and will likely once again have to fight for their spot in the first Dutch division this season. Hopefully Passlack can break into the first team and develop.

• The captain wants the Meisterschale (Sport Bild)

Hans-Joachim Watzke had already said that the Bundesliga title will be the goal for next season, now the captain, Marco Reus, has doubled down on that statement talking to Sport Bild:

“The goal should always be to win the competition you are participating in. After last season and our new signings this summer, I don’t think a different goal of the season makes any sense.”

Bayern Munich will still be the favorites but BVB have made the right moves this summer and should be able to challenge them for the title.

• FIFA Women’s World Cup

The USA is the first finalist after their 2:1 win against England, they will be joined by either the Netherlands or Sweden who will play the second semifinal today.