Gregor Kobel is ready to help fill the power vacuum at Borussia Dortmund
Gregor Kobel was one of the key players for Dortmund last year and the Swiss goalkeeper will head into the new season as assistant captain trying to fill the void left by Marco Reus.
Gregor Kobel seems incredibly relaxed as he steps in front of a select group of media at the Fairmont Grand del Mar just outside of San Diego. Borussia Dortmund are in the United States to overcome a disappointing end to the 2022/23 season and get ready for a year of redemption, in which they finally want to dethrone serial champions Bayern Munich. And there is no doubt that Dortmund will need Kobel at his best to make the next step and win the Bundesliga title.
“We will never completely forget it,” Kobel said about the almost traumatic end to last season’s title race. “That’s something that I will have to think back on many times. But it is something we can draw energy from. We are a bit of a different team with new players. The focus must be to get to know the new team, get into a flow, and improve what we struggled with last year. We want to make a step forward.”
Indeed, Dortmund’s squad has changed a bit over the summer. Most prominently, Jude Bellingham has been transferred for a deal worth an initial €103 million plus easy-to-reach add-ons to Real Madrid. Then there is Raphaël Guerreiro, who joined rivals Bayern. In their stead, the club signed midfielders Felix Nmecha from VfL Wolfsburg and then, more importantly, Marcel Sabitzer from Bayern Munich. The other new arrival is Remy Bensebaini from Gladbach.
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