When Borussia Dortmund’s summer rebuild was announced months ago, I would hazard a guess to say that they didn’t have the absolute disarmament of VFB Stuttgart on their minds. That seems to be the route the club could take, however, with the club announcing the signing of former Stuttgart captain Waldemar Anton.
Dortmund have been extensively linked with both Serhou Guirassy and Chris Führich in recent months in addition to Anton, with the former also possibly set to become a new Dortmund player as early as this week. Anton joins the club as a replacement for Mats Hummels after his contract was not extended his contract beyond this summer.
Dortmund’s interest in Stuttgart’s star performers is likely to come specifically from Sven Mislintat, who was sporting director for Stuttgart between the 2019/20 and 2022/23 seasons. Mislintat’s inside knowledge almost certainly gave Dortmund a boost in their pursuit of Anton, as they were his targets during his time in charge at Stuttgart.
In terms of the numbers, Anton is avery forward-thinking center-back, which likens him to the now-departed Hummels in player profile. Anton’s shot-creating actions (1.22) assists (0.09) and progressive passes (5.36) per 90 all speak to this fact, showing that he has an eye for moving play forward and helping his team progress the ball towards the opposition goal, which would be nice for Dortmund to have alongside Nico Schlotterbeck and Niklas Süle next season, who are also more than capable of playing in this manner.
With Anton being the first formally announced signing for Dortmund this summer (for the first team), it’s clear that the club is working hard behind the scenes on this long awaited rebuild. It is likely that this may open the floodgates and we may get information on some of the other closely linked names very soon.
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