Will RB Leipzig bring in another offensive player? Schröder keeps “eyes open”

Anticipation of summer possible

“If no one gets injured anymore, we just plan to get a replacement for Emil Forsberg,” said Rouven Schröder, sports director of RB Leipzig in December about the cup winners’ transfer plans. In addition to the 32-year-old Swede, who moved to sister club New York Red Bulls and whose successor is Eljif Elmas (24), who came from Naples for 24 million euros, Ilaix Moriba (20, Getafe), Fábio Carvalho (21, Loan termination) and most recently Timo Werner (27, Tottenham), three other players have already left the club. “We have a very competitive squad. We have 16 or 17 players who are eligible for the starting eleven. But you can never retire, especially not during the transfer period. We will always compare things, we keep our eyes open,” said Schröder.Picture“.

According to the newspaper, the idea is to sign a playmaker, which could be seen as an anticipation of the coming summer. Then the loan of the most valuable player in the squad, Xavi Simons (20), from PSG ends, but ideally it should be extended. In addition, Dani Olmo (25) has an exit clause of 60 million euros in his contract, which expires in 2027.

In an interview with the “Mitteldeutsche Zeitung”, Schröder described Elmas as just such an anticipation. The North Macedonian, who can play on the “ten” as well as on the wing, is “exactly that kind of player. A transfer like this is actually difficult to implement in winter. It is very rare for a player of this quality to leave his club in the winter.” In general, the winter transfer market is “difficult to play in. In the summer the process is more wave-like with a lot of inclines, but then it flattens out again. The winter transfer market is short and to the point.”

Coach Marco Rose also emphasized the need to add more if necessary with regard to the tasks in the second half of the Bundesliga and the Champions League: “The squad is just right if no one gets injured. But from experience we all know that this is a pious wish. If something happens, we’ll find out relatively quickly: the squad is too small. We are in an excellent position at the moment. But we’ll definitely look around, and if something really makes sense, I’d definitely advise us as coaches to implement it.”

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