Fluctuations in performance and injuries: Borussia Dortmund have major defensive problems. According to various media reports, those responsible at BVB therefore want to retrofit in winter. 17-year-old Nnamdi Collins is a very promising talent from our own ranks.
In May 2020, Borussia Dortmund announced the contract extension for a 16-year-old to great cheers. With Nnamdi Collins you have “an outstanding talent of the German youth football” tied to you, exulted youth coordinator Lars Ricken.
The German-Nigerian central defender with Polish roots turned down several sporty and financially lucrative offers from England for the licensed player contract with BVB, which was dated until 2023, especially the FC Chelsea showed according to information from SPOX and GOAL showed great interest in him and organized several meetings with his advisors. Jim Fraser, the newcomer to the Blues, rated him in the talks as Europe’s greatest defensive talent of the 2004 class.
But the native of Düsseldorf, who moved from Fortuna to Dortmund in 2016, stuck to his dream of playing in front of the south stand one day – also because the then coach Lucien Favre worked hard together with sports director Michael Zorc and had a clear plan for the future Dortmund had shown.
Nnamdi Collins: speed as “greatest weapon”
A year and a half later, that dream is still there for Collins. The corona pandemic and its accompanying circumstances cost him, like many talents in Germany, some important development steps, and a number of games were canceled in the youth sector. Talent promoter Favre invited him to professional training more often and took him to Bad Ragaz for the season preparation in 2020, but it was not enough for a job, mainly due to the difficult sporting situation of BVB.
The next attempt followed this summer under the new coach Marco Rose. He invited the defender to prepare for the season – and due to his strong physique, he couldn’t believe that Collins was a 17-year-old.
Collins weighs just under 84 kilograms at a height of 1.91 meters. “Nnamdi’s greatest weapon,” said ex-BVB professional and U17 assistant coach Patrick Fritsch in an interview with SPOX and GOAL last year, “is his speed.”
BVB: Knee injury slowed Nnamdi Collins
At 16 he already covered the first five meters to 0.89 seconds, after 30 meters the clock stopped at 3.78 seconds – the fastest values ever recorded in the Dortmund NLZ. Collins also knows how to convince in terms of football. “In combination with his good technique, he has an extraordinary style of play. He is actually not the classic central defender because despite his size he is also a really good footballer,” said Fritsch.
Marco Lehmann, under whom Collins was a regular in the U14 and U15 for two years, agreed: “I think that Nnamdi has played a maximum of ten long balls with us in the two years. He has the right to play every game situation to solve by pricking. With his timing and the speed of pricking, he solves a lot of situations with ease. “
According to reports, Rose also recognized this ease. Collins was given a good chance of advancing to the number four center-back behind Mats Hummels, Manuel Akanji and Dan-Axel Zagadou. But in the second test match, Collins suffered a complicated injury to his kneecap that put him out of action for almost three months.
Defense concerns: BVB bosses are supposedly sounding out the market
BVB then brought Marin Pongracic on loan from Wolfsburg. The 24-year-old, however, like the entire defense of the black-and-yellows, has recently undergone a minor surgical operation on the knee that will put him out of action until the start of the second half.
Therefore, according to media reports, those responsible around Zorc and Sebastian Kehl should sound out the market for a possible winter transfer. the image reports about an interest in Niklas Stark from Hertha BSC and Nico Schlotterbeck from SC Freiburg – two solid Bundesliga players, which, however, would also cost a transfer.
With Collins, meanwhile fully fit again and convincing in the U19 and U23, most recently especially in the Youth League, there would be an alternative to the free tariff. Rose has not invited him to professional training since his injury – according to information from SPOX and GOAL on the grounds that he should get back into the rhythm step by step and collect game practice in the youth field. In January, the youngster’s situation will be reassessed. Collins scratches his hooves.
