Made! With the signing of Anthony Modeste, BVB sporting director Sebastian Kehl has solved a tricky task and closed a gap in attack. The former Cologne native should be integrated quickly. The anticipation is great among the fans.
Dortmund (dpa / lnw) - Farewell in Cologne with critical comments, received with warm applause in Dortmund. Accompanied by encouraging calls from around 1,000 football fans, Anthony Modeste diligently signed autographs after his first training session for his new club Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday. The positive vote of the spectators during the public session reinforced the feeling of sports director Sebastian Kehl that he had done everything right with the five million euro transfer of the 34-year-old striker from 1. FC Köln the night before. "His signing makes a lot of sense for us. He will do us good," commented the sporting director.
In view of the great need for action after the month-long absence of new signing Sébastien Haller, who was suffering from a tumour, and the great time pressure in the search for a replacement, Kehl considers the beefy Modeste, who is strong in the air, to be an ideal solution. "The general conditions were not easy for us. But we were able to create an absolutely ideal solution. We believe that Tony fits our profile exactly," said the Zorc successor, "he gives our team something that we have because of Sébastien Haller's illness currently do not have."
The fact that Modeste's second farewell from Cologne after 2017 - back then after China - caused discord among FC fans cannot dampen Dortmund's anticipation. Kehl doesn't expect integration problems: "He knows the Bundesliga, speaks German very well and is in top form. We're getting a player who's a good guy, is really looking forward to the Champions League and wants to prove himself again at this level." Nevertheless, Modeste, who scored 20 Bundesliga goals for Cologne last season, has to fight for a regular place: "It's not a free ticket. We have enough guys who have pushed themselves."
It cannot be ruled out that Modeste will be part of the squad for the game in Freiburg on Friday. Whether Karim Adeyemi will be fit again by then remains to be seen. The new signing from Salzburg was absent from training on Tuesday. He suffered a foot injury in the 1-0 draw against Leverkusen last Saturday and was therefore substituted in the first half. "We hope that we can still do it. There's still a bit of time until Friday," commented Kehl. The use of midfielder Salih Özcan, who has been missing from his new club for weeks due to a bruise and is still only doing part of the exercises, also remains uncertain.
