DORTMUND, Germany — Borussia Dortmund signed Austria midfielder Marcel Sabitzer from Bundesliga rival Bayern Munich, boosting its options following Jude Bellingham´s departure for Real Madrid.
The 29-year-old Sabitzer signed a contract through June 2027 and will travel on Tuesday to the United States to join his new teammates on Dortmund´s summer tour.
“He fits the profile that we were looking for exactly – a central midfielder who will strengthen us both defensively and offensively as a box-to-box player,” Dortmund sporting director Sebastian Kehl said.
“Marcel is physically strong and also carries an immense goal threat. We´re convinced that he will also become an important pillar of our team thanks to his personality and will help us to be even more effective, especially in hard-fought matches,” Kehl added according to AP.
Dortmund was reportedly paying Bayern 15-20 million euros ($17-22 million) for the midfielder.
Sabitzer starred for Leipzig before following coach Julian Nagelsmann to Bayern in 2021.
But he failed to find his place in Bayern´s star-filled midfield and was ultimately loaned to Manchester United for the second half of last season.
“I can’t wait to finally join the team and wear the BVB jersey. The discussions with Dortmund’s managers were excellent and showed me how ambitious the club wants to be in the coming years,” Sabitzer noted
“I would like to do my part to ensure that BVB achieves its goals and that it has every reason to celebrate something special with its fans again as soon as possible.”
Sabitzer managed only two goals in 53 competitive appearances for Bayern – 54 including the German Super Cup – and the same again in 14 English Premier League and Europa League appearances for United.
Sabitzer is Dortmund´s second reinforcement in midfield after the signing of Felix Nmecha from Wolfsburg to compensate for Bellingham´s departure.
The club replaced left back Raphael Guerreiro, who joined Bayern, with Ramy Bensebaini from Borussia Monchengladbach.
Bayern secured their 11th consecutive Bundesliga title dramatically on the last match of the season in May, snatching the trophy from Dortmund, who was hunting for their first German top-flight title in 11 years.
Elsewhere, Nigeria forward Victor Boniface will be leaving Belgian side Union Saint-Gilloise to join Bayer Leverkusen on a five-year contract, the Bundesliga club announced.
Leverkusen did not give any more details, but German media said the 22-year-old had joined for a transfer fee of about €20 million.
Boniface scored six goals in the Europa League last season, one of which was against Leverkusen in the first leg of the quarterfinals.
“He will help us improve the quality of our squad for the large number of games in the Bundesliga, DFB Cup and the Europa League,” Leverkusen sporting managing director Simon Rolfes said.
Leverkusen finished in sixth place in the league and secured a spot in the Europa League group stage.
