BERLIN: The new Bundesliga season kicks off Friday when Borussia Moenchengladbach host defending champions Bayern Munich.
We look at four new signings for the 2021/22 campaign:
Andre Silva (RB Leipzig)
The Portugal striker hit a club-record 28 goals in 32 Bundesliga appearances for Eintracht Frankfurt last season which saw Leipzig pay 23 million euros ($27 million) for the 25-year-old.
“We fought hard to get him and it was important we got him, with his mentality, style of play and quality,” said new Leipzig coach Jesse Marsch.
In last season’s Bundesliga, Silva was second only to Bayern Munich star Robert Lewandowski, who hit an all-time new league record 41 goals in 2020/21.
Silva scored against 15 of Frankfurt’s 17 Bundesliga opponents last season, with only champions Bayern and runners-up Leipzig missing from his list.
He has a point to prove after playing just 36 minutes of Portugal’s run to the Euro 2020 last 16.
Dayot Upamecano (Bayern Munich)
The 22-year-old has matured into a world-class defender since joining RB Leipzig from sister club Red Bull Salzburg in 2017.
He made 139 appearances, including helping Leipzig reach the Champions League semi-finals in 2019/20, but hopes to further his career at the Bundesliga champions.
“They (Bayern Munich) have been following me since I was 16 or 17 years old,” explained Upamecano.
“They know me very well and have shown me a very clear, well-structured career path.”
His speed made him the league’s fastest centre-back and a force to be reckoned with in the air.
He will replace Jerome Boateng in the centre of Bayern’s defence having followed Julian Nagelsmann from Leipzig to Munich in a transfer worth 42.5 million euros.
The France international is likely to be part of a new back-four alongside England Under-21 left-back Omar Richards, signed on a free transfer from Reading.
Donyell Malen (Borussia Dortmund)
Dortmund compensated for the departure of Jadon Sancho to Manchester United by signing Donyell Malen from PSV Eindhoven on a five-year deal in a transfer worth 30 million euros.
“He performed really well last year and we’re looking forward to seeing him play,” said Dortmund sports director Michael Zorc.
The 22-year-old spent time with both the Ajax and Arsenal academies early in his career, but made his breakthrough last season at PSV.
He scored 19 goals with eight assists as Eindhoven finished runners-up to Ajax in the Dutch league after a serious knee injury saw him miss most of 2019/20.
He created goals against Austria and North Macedonia at Euro 2020, but failed to hit the net as the Netherlands bowed out after a shock defeat to the Czech Republic in the last 16.
Rafael Santos Borre (Eintracht Frankfurt)
Frankfurt compensated for Silva’s departure to Leipzig by snapping up the Colombia international on a four-year deal after he became a free agent at River Plate.
The 25-year-old scored 56 goals in 149 competitive appearances over four years with the Argentinian giants.
“He’ll help us with his instinct for goal and clinical finishing,” said Frankfurt sports director Markus Kroesche.
This is Borre’s second stint in Europe after two years at Atletico Madrid until 2017, albeit without featuring for the first team, and was loaned to Villarreal.
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