Denis Zakaria and Matthias Ginter were once again among the most important pillars of the Borussia eleven in the recent victories against Borussia Dortmund (1-0) and at VfL Wolfsburg (3-1) on Saturday. On Sunday, Max Eberl spoke about the plans with the two key players, whose contracts expire at the end of the season.
“The fact is: We would like to extend the contracts of Zakaria and Ginter,” Eberl explained again in Sport 1-Doppelpass. And when asked specifically about the Zakaria case, he said: “I don’t feel without a chance. It’s a lot of work, but I’m up to it.”
It is known from the Swiss international that he had already signalled to Borussia at the end of 2020 that he wanted to leave the club in the summer if an interesting offer arrived. However, a move did not materialise “for a wide variety of reasons”, Eberl said on Sunday, although he did not elaborate on the reasons themselves.
“Now we are trying to extend the contract,” Borussia’s sporting director continued. “For us it is elementary important to continue with such players. The constellation is now such that we have a top player with us, which I am not angry about. It works well. And Adi Hütter, who knows him from Young Boys Bern, also has good access to him. “
“You can go somewhere else as a player and be number 25 in the squad. “
MAX EBERL
One thing is clear: Gladbach cannot tie down players like Zakaria purely on financial grounds. Eberl emphasised that once again. “What we can offer the boy is: to take a step again with an ambitious club and a coach who is very keen on him. That also means getting the player back into a form that he himself wants to get back into and reaching Europe together with him. You can go somewhere else as a player and be number 25 in the squad – or stay at the club and be one of the top players there. “
“Adequate offer” to Ginter has not been possible so far
In the case of Ginter, Eberl stressed that it had not been possible for the club (so far) to make the international an “adequate offer”. As a result, the club had completely refrained from even making a concrete offer. “We didn’t have the financial means,” Eberl assured, hinting that the situation was just changing. “Now the season is running, now spectators are coming to the stadium again, and we are back to 46000 spectators in Borussia-Park sooner than we thought. That’s a different calculation we can make.”
He added that one still has to calculate very carefully, but: “More money is coming in. And we will now try to invest the money sensibly and appropriately for players.” In general, Borussia would have to score points with other arguments beyond the earning potential in talks with desired candidates.
Eberl: “I won’t be able to lure a player to Gladbach with money or keep him because of that. The combination of a good contract, a stable club, a good environment, trust and the sporting prospects lead a player to say: I’m staying in Gladbach. Or not.”
Those involved in Gladbach have known for years that it is not always possible to persuade all key players to extend their contracts. What could be new in the summer of 2022, however, is that top-class players such as Zakaria or Ginter leave the club on a free transfer. “That would not be good,” Eberl stressed, “but even then it would continue for us. We would have to be smart and find new players like Scally, Netz or Koné. And I’m not worried that we would find those players then. “
