The search for a successor to former sports director Roland Virkus at Borussia Mönchengladbach is in full swing. According to media reports, a top candidate is currently emerging.
The trail leads to Salzburg. The solution for the successor to ex-sports director Roland Virkus at Borussia Mönchengladbach could be in neighboring Austria. Rouven Schröder is currently still working there as sports director at the local RB Salzburg. But for how much longer?
The 49-year-old is currently considered the most promising candidate in the Lower Rhine region to lead the club’s sporting fortunes in the future. Intensive negotiations are said to have started. Various media reports about it.
High transfer fees are likely to be due
“So we’ve been on the move a lot in the last few days. We’ve had conversations, some promising conversations. I don’t want to comment on the personnel themselves. But we have a good feeling at the moment,” said Borussia managing director Stefan Stegemann recently, who wants to find a solution to this issue as quickly as possible.
However, it won’t be easy to guide the former professional footballer to Mönchengladbach. Even if Schröder is toying with a change. He only moved from RB Leipzig to RB Salzburg last December and has a contract there until 2028. A significant transfer fee is therefore likely to be due if he changes.
Schröder worked in the Bundesliga already for Werder Bremen, Mainz 05, Schalke 04 and RB Leipzig. As early as 2022, Schröder, then sports director at Schalke, was said to have been discussed as Max Eberl’s successor at Gladbach. But a change didn’t happen at that time.
Book was considered the first choice
But there are also a few other candidates who could be considered for Borussia if there is no agreement between Schröder and the club. Alexander Rosen, who most recently worked as a squad planner at TSG Hoffenheim, would be a possible option. There is also said to have been a contact here.
Most recently, Nils-Ole Book was considered the preferred candidate by the Mönchengladbach club management. For several years at SV Elversberg, Book has ensured that the small Saarland club causes a sensation in the 2nd league with its style of play and its many talents. But: The 39-year-old decided – somewhat surprisingly – to extend his contract in Elversberg.
Candidates such as Jonas Boldt (43), Jörg Schmadtke (61), Lutz Pfannenstiel (52) and ex-Gladbacher Martin Stranzl (45) also recently made the rounds as part of the successor search.
Our source
- WDR research
- dpa reporting
