Roman Bürki leaves Borussia Dortmund in the summer after seven years and moves to America for MLS newcomers St. Louis City SC. The club, which will start in the North American professional league from the 2023 season, officially announced the signing of the 31-year-old goalkeeper on Wednesday morning (local time).
Bürki will join the team in the summer and play the first half of the year at St. Louis City SC 2, the transition team in the MLS Next Pro. His contract in Missouri runs until 2025 and includes a significantly lower salary than at BVB, where the Swiss could have pocketed around 5 million euros for his last year.
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Lutz Pfannenstiel, sports director at SLCSC, confirmed to Transfermarkt that Bürki was not signed as a “designated player” whose salary may exceed the usual upper limit in America. “He wants to be on the field. Roman is in his prime as a goalkeeper and I think he will be a top goalkeeper in MLS. I’ve always said that we want to build a team and not buy it. Bürki’s arrival underscores this message,” said the former sports director at Fortuna Düsseldorf. In order to come to America, Bürki also turned down offers from Galatasaray Istanbul and FC Bayern.
“We said from day one that we wanted to build a stable foundation,” Pfannenstiel continued. “It was important for us to fill our key positions early on and let them interact and grow together. After analyzing the North American goaltender market for 18 months, we made the decision to sign an experienced foreign goaltender – a leader who is a role model for young talent. We spoke to a few goalkeepers, but I’ve known Roman Bürki for a long time and when I realized we could get him it was a quick decision.”
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St. Louis has started roster building in recent weeks. Before Bürki, Pfannenstiel had already guided João Klauss (25, Hoffenheim) and Tomas Ostrak (22, Cologne) to his project from Bundesliga clubs, and Selmir Pidro (24) from FK Sarajevo is also coming. “We are simply not in a position to operate in the domestic market at the moment as all the interesting players are under contract in MLS. That’s why we’re concentrating on the South American and European markets in the summer. We have four of our eight foreign players under contract, which gives us a few more opportunities to do something when it fits right.”
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