GERMANY
Replacing Jude Bellingham at Borussia Dortmund
Felix Nmecha joined Borussia Dortmund to replace Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham.
Borussia Dortmund paid €30m ($31.6m) in the last transfer window for Felix Nmecha. He was coming off the back of a fine season with Wolfsburg, and the role he would have at his new club was not going to be easy: trying to replace Jude Bellingham.
It was a new era at Dortmund. The team’s two biggest stars of recent years had left for Manchester City and Real Madrid to become two of the best players in the world.
Nmecha steps up for Dortmund
Even so, with all this pressure, Nmecha has stepped up and at 23 years of age is an essential part of Edin Terzic’s team. The English-born, Germany international midfielder gets through a huge amount of work and brings a wealth of ability and, as of Wednesday, goals to the side.
Winner vs Newcastle
He scored the winning goal in the Champions League clash against Newcastle at St James’ Park on Wednesday night, giving his team their first European victory of the season.
According to several reports in England, the Magpies were very interested in the services of Nmecha in the summer. Newcastle boss Eddie Howe said: “He was a player we looked at in the summer and we really liked him. But he’s a Dortmund player now”. Newcastle eventually settled on Sandro Tonali, who has been caught up in a betting scandal and faces a 10-month suspension.