At the start of training on Monday, the BVB newcomers were still on holiday, but Borussia nevertheless announced their new shirt numbers. One of them, however, was missing from the list.
For the start of the 2022/23 season, new BVB coach Edin Terzic invited his players to the Borussia training ground in the Brackel district on Monday morning for the first part of the two-day performance diagnostics – at least the small number of players who are not still enjoying their holidays due to international commitments in June.
All of BVB’s five newcomers were thus absent, but four of them – Nico Schlotterbeck, Niklas Süle, Salih Özcan and Karim Adeyemi – received their shirt numbers on Monday.
Süle with Hoffenheim number – Tigges change “helps” Adeyemi – Wolf swaps
It was already clear in the run-up that either Schlotterbeck or Süle would have to give up their usual number – both last wore 4 in Freiburg and Munich respectively. At BVB, Schlotterbeck gets it, youngster Soumaila Coulibaly steps down. Süle will switch to 25, which he once wore on his jersey at TSG Hoffenheim. At BVB, it most recently belonged to substitute keeper Luca Unbehaun.
The choice was easy for Özcan and Adeyemi: the former can carry on wearing the 6, as he did at 1. FC Köln, which had not been given since Thomas Delaney’s departure to FC Sevilla last summer. And Steffen Tigges’ move to 1. FC Köln freed up the 27 for Karim Adeyemi, which he had already enjoyed at RB Salzburg.
The two new goalkeepers Alexander Meyer and Marcel Lotka will in future wear the 33 and 35 respectively, Marius Wolf moves from the 39 to the 17.
Haller change official at the beginning of July
Sebastien Haller, meanwhile, has not yet been given a number – after all, the striker’s transfer is not yet official. so that Ajax Amsterdam can book the Haller sale for the 2022/23 financial year.
Haller and Co. are expected to join team training at BVB on 8 or 9 July. The Borussians, who are already there and fit for training, will present themselves to the public for the first time in this preparation on Wednesday.