In his Kicker column, former Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich and Germany defender Jürgen Kohler believes that BVB are the favourites to win the Bundesliga this season.
The former World Cup winner has analysed both clubs’ recent transfer activity and has come to the conclusion that BVB are on-course to put an end to Bayern Munich’s dominance in the Bundesliga.
“Dortmund is the absolute top favourite for the championship this year and not Bayern,” said Köhler.
When speaking about Dortmund, Kohler explained: “With Niklas Süle, Nico Schlotterbeck and Karim Adeyemi, BVB have signed three national players. David Raum would be the fourth. And Sebastien Haller knows the Bundesliga, he had a great rate. These signings will strengthen the team.”
The 56-year-old also believes that BVB are “a lot broader and also better at the top than in the previous season. With these investments, BVB has the opportunity to win at least one title.”
On the other hand, Kohler also sees problems in Bayern’s defence. The 56-year-old wrote: “Neither Benjamin Pavard, Dayot Upamecano nor Lucas Hernandez are – with all due respect – good enough for a top club like Bayern. To what extent the two players who came from Amsterdam, Noussair Mazraoui and Ryan Gravenberch, who will help the record champions immediately, we’ll see. I’m not completely convinced of the transfers yet. An all-rounder like Javi Martinez was missing.”
Kohler also reports that the Robert Lewandowski transfer saga could cause issues within the Bayern camp.
“Bayern Munich still have the difficult issue with Robert Lewandowski. This problem causes unrest. With Sadio Mané, a super striker with extraordinary skills has arrived, but he will not be a classic replacement for the Pole should the FIFA world player leave Bayern this summer. Mané is a different type of player. He can play at the top, as he proved his class under Jürgen Klopp, but the Senegalese interprets the position differently,” added Köhler.
Time will only tell if Kohler’s beliefs become reality. Non-Bayern fans and general German football fans alike will possibly be hoping that there’s a new name on the Bundesliga title in 2023.
If the transfer activity of both clubs is anything to go by, it should be a more evenly-matched Bundesliga campaign.
GGFN
