Dan-Axel Zagadou has not played a game since mid-March, but now the young Frenchman is about to make his comeback. The centre-back is expected to get some rhythm in the U23s.
The Dortmund business trip to Amsterdam last week will not go down as a highlight in Borussia history, the professionals left a very bad impression in the 0:4 against Ajax. At least the game had one positive aspect, however, because Dan-Axel Zagadou was back in the squad for the first time in his third appearance in the Champions League group stage.
It was the young Frenchman’s first appearance since mid-March and his substitution in the Bundesliga match against Hertha BSC. Since then, the centre-back has been absent due to a serious knee injury and subsequent surgery. It was not the first absence in his Dortmund tenure. Since his transfer from Paris St. Germain’s youth team in 2017, the Frenchman has repeatedly had to miss longer periods of time, whether due to injuries to his knee or various muscle injuries.
As much as Zagadou has repeatedly shown his potential as a robust, strong defender, injuries have repeatedly set him back, and the 22-year-old has not yet been a reliable constant. After about three weeks in team training, he is now about to take the next step, the return to the pitch. The squad spot in Amsterdam was more of a taster course for the dressing room and stadium atmosphere. “This is not yet a real breakthrough for him,” coach Marco Rose had already stressed before the Ajax game, “but it’s simply a matter of having him around.”
Zagadou is now expected to get match practice with the U23s, as early as next weekend. For the Frenchman, it’s Berlin instead of Cologne, Soufian Benyamina as a counterpart instead of Anthony Modeste. Dortmund’s second team will play Viktoria Berlin on Saturday, while the professionals will host 1. FC Köln one and a half hours later.
In the long term, however, Zagadou should complement the squad of the Bundesliga team and thus ensure that coach Rose, after major personnel problems during the preparation, will have all options for the central defence available again in the near future. And for the player it is also about his personal future, his contract expires in the summer.
