Bayern Munich legend Stefan Effenberg believes Nico Schlotterbeck ‘has to go to’ the Bundesliga champions amid interest from Borussia Dortmund and Premier League outfit Newcastle United, speaking to Sport1.
On the final day of the January transfer window, Newcastle signed their first new centre-back in no less than four years. But has Dan Burn opened the floodgates? The first of many, perhaps?
What’s certain is that another defensive giant is high on Eddie Howe’s agenda heading into the summer. Sven Botman and Diego Carlos will come into consideration again.
Schlotterbeck too.
Freiburg’s Germany U21 international turned down a move to St James’ Park in January, deciding to stay and fight for a place in Europe at the Bundesliga’s perennial overachievers.
It could be a different story in the off-season, however, with the £16 million-rated Schlotterbeck admitting that he’d consider ‘attractive offers’ from England.
But, according to Effenberg, there is only one club Schlotterbeck should consider joining ‘if he wants to win trophies’. And it’s not Newcastle. Or, for that matter, a Borussia Dortmund side dumped out of Europe by Rangers.
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“Nico Schlotterbeck has been on the black and yellow wish list for a long time,” explains Effenberg, a three-time Bundesliga winner with Bayern.
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“He has said it is his aspiration to play internationally (for Germany). That means, to me, he will go somewhere else in the summer.
“But to BVB? I could definitely imagine Bavaria. When you’re stronger, when you’re self-confident, there’s nothing wrong with joining Bayern. If he has the opportunity and wants to win titles, then he has to go to Munich.”
Bayern have not kept a clean sheet in any of their last five games and were stunned 4-2 by newly-promoted Bochum recently.
The error-prone Dayot Upamecano has struggled for form. And, to make matters worse, Niklas Sule is on his way to Dortmund, pulling a ‘reverse-Lewandowski’ after deciding agaisnt extending his contract at the Allianz Arena.
“From my point of view, there is no well-established defence,” Effenberg adds.
“Now, the time has come that you have to rely on two centre-backs. Now comes the decisive games. I think (Julian) Nagelsmann learned that too.”
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