Gladbach sports director wants to rebuild
Staying up in the league is almost certain, and yet the to-do list for Borussia Mönchengladbach’s new sporting director Roland Virkus is full to bursting after the 2-0 win at bottom SpVgg Greuther Fürth on Saturday. About a year after the famous Champions League season with the end in the round of 16, a rebuilding must and should be done. Since 2019, the Borussia squad has only changed selectively.
“The structures within the group are perhaps a bit encrusted and need to be broken up. A breath of fresh air certainly doesn’t hurt if a team stays together for so long,” confirmed Virkus in an interview with the “foosball”. The manager assumes that the planned upheaval “will stretch over several transfer periods”. Squad planner Steffen Korell had previously admitted that he had to sell one or the other player “without being able to replace them with an equivalent”.
That means: from the summer, the boys on the Lower Rhine will also have to take on responsibility. The 20-year-old midfielder Manu Koné, who initiated Marcus Thuram’s 1-0 lead against Fürth on Saturday, could slip into this role. The two full-backs Luca Netz (18) and Joe Scally (19) are also among the hopefuls who are said to have great potential for development. But Virkus knows that you are not competitive with an A-youth in the Bundesliga.
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Experienced players like goalkeeper Yann Sommer (33) or national player Jonas Hofmann (29) should definitely be kept, they are “corset pillars of our team and should remain so in the years to come. They would play a very important role in our plan to build something new.” Meanwhile, new contracts for Lars Stindl (33) and Christoph Kramer (31) are not high on the agenda. “Of course we have these players on the screen and will address the issue. But not immediately. Due to the overall constellation, other personal details have priority,” says Virkus. The four professionals mentioned are all tied until 2023.
Due to Corona, Borussia did not make the hoped-for transfers last summer and contract extensions with service providers that had been targeted failed. Midfielder Denis Zakaria (25) switched to Juventus Turin in winter. Other players could follow the Swiss – such as the storm trio Breel Embolo (25), Marcus Thuram (24) and Alassane Plea (28), all of whom are under contract until 2023. With a sale this summer, a few million more could be flushed into the Gladbach coffers. But Virkus has now announced that he basically wants to keep the trio. “I will fight for the boys,” said Max Eberl’s successor, who left the club in the spring. “I’ll talk to all three and explain what we’re up to. Basically, I don’t want to sell any of the guys.”
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Perhaps these statements are tactics. Because Virkus also admitted that all three attackers, who scored ten of Borussia’s last eleven goals, may “pursue other goals”: “In the event that you don’t find an agreement, you would have to think about how to solve the situation.” Otherwise, the same scenario threatens as with defender Matthias Ginter, who changes free of charge after the season. Where the 28-year-old is going is unclear. “I can’t say anything new yet,” Ginter reported.
A departure from Thuram was actually planned last year. But the change to the Italian champions Inter Milan fell through – among other things because of the knee injury, which cost the French a large part of the start of the season. Thuram experienced a career break. His form curve is currently pointing upwards again with three goals in the last five games.
Sports director Virkus would also like to enter into a dialogue with coach Adi Hütter and relentlessly work through this season that has fallen short of expectations. The Austrian had been signed by Eintracht Frankfurt with some transfer promises before the season for 7.5 million euros.
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“The conditions under which Adi Hütter made his commitment were different, that’s right. That’s why it’s about sitting down together in peace, looking deep into each other’s eyes and talking absolutely openly about everything. Does the coach accept the changed circumstances? What are his transfer requests? Can he identify with the goals of the club? You have to discuss that. To find a common path in the end,” revealed Virkus. The goal is clear: “We want to start the new season with him.” The 55-year-old couldn’t see any doubts about the future from the head coach. “And I like to repeat myself: I see it as a completely normal process.”
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