The Daily Bee: Urs Fischer ‘Congratulates’ Borussia Dortmund

Good Morning Fear the Wall!

After Thomas Meunier tore his calf muscle, putting him out of action for another six weeks (on top of the time he spent out of action due to a fractured cheekbone), Borussia Dortmund were forced to go out and pick up a new right-back. They opted for Union Berlin’s Julian Ryerson, and the move was announced with little over a week to go before the Rückrunde kicks off. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Union Berlin are not over the moon about this!

Now, Urs Fischer has weighed in with his thoughts. He expressed his surprise, and congratulated Borussia Dortmund on the really good full-back they’ve just acquired.

I’m not entirely convinced that this is a sincere comment from Fischer! The fact it came as a surprise to Union Berlin means they won’t have had the chance to plan how to replace Ryerson. That leaves them in a bit of a hole, with a tough fixture against Hoffenheim coming up at the weekend.

I have been pretty critical of Bayern Munich’s tendency to undercut other Bundesliga teams over the years, hoovering up the best players in the league, often without paying anything for them. I think the way that Bayern operate obviously serves them well, it harms the league as a whole (and I think there’s an argument to be made that this hurts everyone in the long-run). BVB have generally been a little better with this stuff, as they tend to at least pay a fee for players from around the league, but this is the second time this season that they’ve bought a Bundesliga starter on very short notice (the first being Anthony Modeste). In both instances, it was unfortunate circumstances that forced Borussia Dortmund’s hand, but I still feel pretty bad for FC Köln and Union Berlin.

The Links

• Apropos of nothing, Fabrizio Romano has reported that Konrad Laimer has now agreed a deal to join Bayern Munich in the summer. I promise I only spotted this after writing the above about how Bayern and BVB operated in the Bundesliga.
• Paddy recently discussed six players who have expiring contracts in the summer. Two of those players, Anthony Modeste and Rapha Guerreiro, plus Felix Passlack, will not have their contracts renewed, according to SPORT BILD.
• Borussia Dortmund may have signed a right back just a few days ago, but there are rumours circulating that they may be in for another! There have been reports that BVB are one of a handful of clubs seriously interested in Real Valladolid’s 18-year-old star, Ivan Fresneda.

The Daily Buzz

How do you feel about the Julian Ryerson move? Are Union Berlin and Urs Fischer right to be angry?