Due to the serious injury to captain Peter Gulacsi, Bundesliga club RB Leipzig could bring forward the commitment of goalkeeper talent Maarten Vandevoordt by a year.
“The clubs agreed at the time that he could come as early as 2023,” said sports director Max Eberl at the RB training camp in Abu Dhabi. The 20-year-old Belgian has already been signed by Leipzig and is supposed to continue gaining match practice and experience at his youth club KRC Genk until the summer of 2024.
Due to Gulacsi’s cruciate ligament rupture, which the Hungarian national goalkeeper suffered at the beginning of October, Leipzig could now rethink. Especially since Gulacsi recently had to have another operation due to bacteria in his knee and will only be fit again for the new season. According to Eberl, you have to take your time and see “how the goalkeeper situation is developing here”.
The managing director pointed out that “a cruciate ligament rupture is not so easy, especially at that age”. After the second operation, one is confident and has to wait and see how quickly the rehabilitation will progress.
Gulacsi is currently represented by Janis Blaswich. The cup winners signed the Norwegian Örjan Nyland as a substitute until the end of the season. However, the two keeper are 31 and 32 years old and therefore no long-term options for the future.