THE OPPONENT: Borussia Dortmund is primarily hoping for goals from the attacker who has just signed up.
New signing Anthony Modeste is expected to make his debut for Borussia Dortmund at SC Freiburg this Friday. “He’s full of juice and looks very healthy, very fit and very hungry. So he’s a very good option for Friday,” said BVB coach Edin Terzic. Dortmund had signed the 34-year-old as a replacement for Sébastien Haller from league rivals 1. FC Köln, who was suffering from a testicular tumor. Since the looming transfer had become public on Sunday before Cologne’s first game of the season against FC Schalke 04, FC coach Steffen Baumgart had already renounced Modeste and expressed his anger at the goalscorer’s departure.
“I can understand the disappointment,” emphasized Terzic. Of course it’s not nice “to lose such a top man at the beginning of August”. However, the Westphalia coach asserted that BVB did not have the impulse to leak the transfer on Sunday. You also have to understand Modeste. “He can play in the Champions League with us, and it’s not a given to play for titles again,” said Terzic.
The clear expectation of Modeste is to score goals. “We hope that he will show us the things that he has shown very impressively in the Bundesliga in recent years,” said Terzic.
The BVB coach continues to demand patience with top talent Youssoufa Moukoko. “He has developed very well lately,” said Terzic of the 17-year-old striker. “There is still a lot of work ahead of us, its development is far from over.” Moukoko has been playing for BVB in the Bundesliga for almost two years and has since scored five goals in 35 appearances. The contract with the attacker, who was born in Cameroon, expires next summer, and negotiations about an extension have stalled in recent weeks.
According to Terzic, it is the club’s job not to put more pressure on the talented Moukoko than he already is. “When you’re number 9 at Borussia Dortmund or another big club, you always play with a stopwatch around your neck,” said Terzic in view of the public assessment of a striker’s goal threat.
In addition to the seriously ill Sébastien Haller, BVB in Freiburg will also be missing national player Niklas Süle, who switched from FC Bayern to Dortmund before the season. Otherwise, the Dortmunders travel to the Breisgau with the best cast. “Everyone else is in training,” said BVB coach Edin Terzic on Wednesday. When the league started 1-0 against Bayer Leverkusen, newcomer Karim Adeyemi was ailing and replaced early. Süle had already missed the game against Leverkusen after suffering a muscle injury in the DFB Cup a week earlier.