Official: Borussia Dortmund Sign Gregor Kobel for €15 Million

Borussia Dortmund have officially signed 23-year-old Swiss goalkeeper Gregor Kobel, purchasing him from VFB Stuttgart for a fee of €15 million. Kobel and the club have agreed to a contract that runs through 2026. This makes it official: Dortmund have found their long-term solution between the posts.

I expressed caution at this deal in this article, in which I argued that basically every recordable metric we have on goalkeeping demonstrates that Kobel is an average goalkeeper at best, and isn’t young enough to be able to rely on future development. Despite my initial concerns, there is now no bigger Kobel fan than myself among the BVB fanbase. If Kobel proves me wrong and becomes the stable goalkeeping presence that Dortmund haven’t had since the days of prime Roman Weidenfeller, then I will be the first to admit it.

For all his statistical underwhelming, Kobel is big and athletic, and still has many years of his prime left to give. With the right coaching and the right back line in front of him, there’s every possibility he could turn into a great keeper.