The Daily Bee: Borussia Dortmund Close in on Julien Duranville and Ivan Fresneda

The January transfer window will close in just under a week, so we are seeing plenty of movement happening in the Bundesliga, including reports of one or two potential Borussia Dortmund transfers. BVB dipped into the market to bring in Julian Ryerson as a replacement for the injured Thomas Meunier, but they are also looking to wrap up deals for two very talented youngsters before the end of the window too.

The first of those, Julien Duranville, appears to be imminent. Sven Westerschulze has reported that BVB have agreed a deal to sign Duranville for €8.5m, potentially rising to €11m, and the 16-year-old Belgian winger has been spotted in Dortmund as he undergoes a medical.

There’s always something that could potentially go wrong, so until he is officially confirmed by Borussia Dortmund, it’s not a done deal, but it certainly looks like BVB are close to snapping up a very talented young player.

The second young player that BVB are closing in on is Ivan Fresneda. Reports suggest that deal isn’t as close as the Duranville transfer, but they also seem to be moving along nicely, and the 18-year-old Spanish right-back’s most likely destination seems to be Dortmund.

Interestingly, while the Duranville move looks to be one for the future (though given the extent of his talents, maybe the very near future), Fresneda is probably capable of contributing immediately. He has already been a useful member of Real Valladolid’s squad this season, and given BVB’s lack of depth at full-back, he could be pretty useful addition to the squad right now. However, reports suggest that it’s Duranville that will join the squad immediately, while Fresneda may head back to Valladolid on loan, or even join Bournemouth until the end of the season.

Perhaps the club feel like they have sufficient cover at full-back for the remainder of this season, and don’t want to limit Fresneda’s playing time. Given that Fresneda is a couple years older than Duranville and ready to play top-flight football now, it makes sense that they are keen to make sure he continues to get valuable playing time. In Duranville’s case, he can probably afford to train with the BVB first team and get the occasional substitute appearance, to aid his development and prepare him to be an integral part of the squad in the next few years.

The Links

• Hoffenheim have been busy in the January transfer window, looking to bring two Bundesliga favourites back to the league, in Benfica’s Jonathan Brooks and former Borussia Dortmund and current Sevilla favourite, Thomas Delaney.
• There have been plenty of calls for Jamie Bynoe-Gittens and Gio Reyna to start for BVB, given how well they’ve played and how poor Donyell Malen and Karim Adeyemi have been, but Terzic has pumped the brakes on that idea by reminding everyone they’ve both been out for quite a while.

The Daily Buzz

Do you think BVB’s January business will be completed if these two deals are confirmed? Where else do they need to strengthen?