Sports director Ricken confirms
©IMAGO
After the sale of Tom Rothe (19) to 1. FC Union Berlin, Borussia Dortmund will not sign a replacement for the left side of defense. Instead, U19 captain Almugera Kabar (18) will move up to the professional squad. Sports director Lars Ricken confirmed this in a media round on Wednesday. “It is a brave decision, but we as BVB stand by it,” the 48-year-old is quoted as saying by “Sky”.
However, according to the TV station, BVB is still keeping an eye on the market. Spaniard Miguel Gutiérrez (23) from FC Girona has been considered a possible candidate for some time. However, the full-back is said to be too expensive in the overall package, which is why a loan would be the only option. Gutiérrez has an exit clause of 35 million euros.
Currently, only Ramy Bensebaini (29) is in the squad as a trained left-back with experience, but Julian Ryerson (26) can also be used in this position. The Norwegian has played 23 of his 54 games for BVB on the left side and is likely to have the edge. Yan Couto (22) was recently loaned from Manchester City for the right-back position – including an obligation to buy for 25 million euros plus 5 million euros in bonuses.
Young talent Kabar has been training at BVB since 2019, but he has no experience in the professional field so far. The Bremen native was a regular in the U19s last season and made 22 appearances (two goals/one assist), including one substitute appearance in the Youth League. He took over the captaincy for the new season. Kabar, who won the 2023 World and European Championship with the German U17s, has a development contract with BVB that runs until next year, but there are said to have already been talks with him about an extension – as a professional. In mid-June, “Bild” reported that FC Barcelona, FC Chelsea and AC Milan were interested in Kabar.
