In other news, Westline is reporting that Sebastian Kehl will most likely be undergoing another surgery on his hurt knee. The decision was reached after Kehl took a visit to some physicians. All in all, this sucks. It’s been a year-plus now and he’s still feeling the effects of that tackle. Ouch.

And finally, the Roman Weidenfeller-called-Gerald Asamoah-a-black-pig story will have a resolution on Thursday (that would be tomorrow). The DFB Committee had been deliberating over what to do in this situation, and their conclusion will be unveiled to us all mañana.

According to the local Spanish media, Racing are planning to present Smolarek as a player as early as Thursday.

This could turn out to be interesting. We’re pretty full on strikers, so maybe selling off Ebi for €2.5million wouldn’t be such a bad idea. Perhaps we’ll take that money and invest in a new defender to replace the awful Philipp Degen in the winter transfer window. One can only hope.

Apparently Liverpool were at one point interested in Alexandrov, with the player actually passing a medical that would allow him to join the Reds. However, he was unable to obtain a British work permit and the interest was dropped.

This could be interesting. Dortmund have had some solid youngsters in the squad and this could be another solid addition. Or it could be a bust. Perhaps more will be learned within the next day.

Again, Dortmund won’t sell Dede for anything less than €10million. This is where Roma blew it. They were offering only around €6million, and Michael Zorc has said that simply won’t cut it.

Talks around BVB fan-parts have kicked up the idea of perhaps selling Dede for €8million plus a player from Newcastle. Obviously Dortmund would have to find a player on the Magpies’ squad who they value at €2million (and is available), but I’m not sure I like this idea.

For me, I’d rather take the €10 million (assuming Dortmund sell Dede and this is what he goes for) and search the globe for the best replacement. I’m sure there are better players available than pine-riders at Newcastle United.

In other news, Dortmund finished up their preseason friendlies with a 4-1 win over Arnheim. Kuba again found the back of the net (16′), Smolarek was at the double (50′, 69′), and surprise package Delron Buckley scored the final goal in the 80th minute.

Good stuff, boys. Now beat Magdeburg in the Cup and start the season off right with a win over Duisburg.

UPDATE: Kicker is saying this is now a done deal. (7/20/07)

I don’t understand this. Long-term it’s not such a bad deal, but it might come back to bite us this year. We’ve already loaned out Nuri Sahin to Feyenoord (without an option to buy, by the way), so who is going to play central midfield for us? Maybe we’re only planning on playing three in the midfield, with Petric playing in between the midfielders and forwards (4-3-1-2?)…

If so, who are those other three? Kuba will most certainly be one of them, as he has been receiving high praise from Thomas Doll (although Doll has said that he’d like to see Kuba be more selfish in front of goal). I’ve also gotta think that Sebastian Kehl and Tinga will figure in there somewhere. Then again, Giovanni Federico is a new acquisition and a goal scorer, so he should also see playing time. Also, you can’t rule Florian Kringe out of the mix. Doll certainly has plenty of choices as to who he wants to play!

On a different subject, I’ve been trying to figure out who will be playing forward with Klimowicz while Frei is still injured. I’m leaning towards Ebi Smolarek, but Nelson Valdez did just score two goals (amazing, I know) in our last friendly, so maybe he’s going to actually do something this year. This is all assuming Petric plays in that hanging role, of course. I’ll put my money on Ebi at this point.

Your thoughts?

In other news, Thomas Doll has told Lars Ricken that there is no place for him in his squad. Ricken won’t be traveling with the team to their Switzerland training camp, but will instead “be with Theo”, according to Doll. By this, Doll meant that Ricken will be training with the amateurs. Ouch. Thanks for this, Lars, but maybe it’s time for you to pack your things.

Also, Ebi Smolarek has just rejected a contract extension. Apparently this doesn’t worry Doll, who has said that he has no problem waiting until the winter break to sit down and talk with the players about extensions. Hopefully he’s a good negotiator!

“There is a real interest from Dortmund,” said Roger Boli, Diawara’s agent. “Souleymane could be interested to join them and play in the Bundesliga.”

This should be interesting. This is the first I’ve heard of the news, but apparently we’re leading the race (”That is true that we have been solicited by lots of clubs,” said Boli) to sign him. If that’s the case, then great. We have improved the squad quite a bit at the forward and midfield positions, but we need some more players at the back.

But after thinking about this deal, I can’t figure out where the money is coming from. I’m pretty sure Michael Zorc has said that we’ve used all but maybe £1-1.5million of our transfer budget, and would Charlton really be willing to let him go for that amount? When they bought him from Sochaux, they paid £3.7 for him. It’ll be interesting to see how this turns out.

P.S. Happy Fourth of July!

* – Matthew Amoah has been sold to NAC Breda of the Dutch Eredivisie. According to Earnie Stewart, the club’s techincal director, NAC has long been after Amoah.

“We have been working on this deal for months. First it looked like it was impossible for the player to sign, but this week negotiating went quicker,” he said.

I’m not sure on the exact transfer fee, but kicker reports that Dortmund lowered their €450,000 asking price. However, BVB will keep part of the transfer rights, so they will make some more money should NAC sell him to someone else.

Good luck in Holland…

While I was gone, Borussia Dortmund backed out in the race to David Rozehnal’s signature, and instead signed Croatian international Robert Kovač on a free transfer from Juventus. He has signed a two year contract with us.

“I am delighted about the challenge ahead and am looking forward to be back playing in the Bundesliga,” he was quoted as saying.

The “back playing in the Bundesliga” part refers to his time spent with Bayern Munich and the Asprins of Leverkusen.

“The sporting potential is clearly in Borussia Dortmund’s favour and that is why I am delighted to be back in the Bundesliga next season,” Kovač added.

Sporting potential in favor of Dortmund? Sounds good to me.