German and Borussia Dortmund star Marco Reus made a resounding statement by signing an extension to his contract at the club. Reus had found himself in the middle of immense transfer speculation as it emerged that the German had a buyout clause in his contract.
Reus, who has admitted time and again that he is a life-long Dortmund fan, looked set to follow former stars such as Mario Gotze and Robert Lewandowski and leave Die Borussen for rivals Bayern Munich.
Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp lauded Reusa decision and revealed that signing that contract extension was hugely appreciated inside the dressing room by his fellow players too.
“I am really happy he came to his decision,” Klopp said at a press conference.
“Marco is very relaxed now, very free. Ideally we can convert this into a performance. There was even applause in the dressing room which I thought was pretty cool. Ideally this will happen at the stadium, too.
“I am not only happy Marco decided for us, I am happy he decided for us this early. That was important to us. It was a decision on a joint future. I am glad he receives the recognition he deserves.”
The club, which had won back to back Bundesliga titles in 2011 and 12, have struggled immensely this season, and were rooted to the bottom of the table until Saturdaya s 3-0 win over Freiburg. Reusa contract extension further lifts the spirits in the dressing room a something that is needed immensely.
Klopp reiterated the same, stressing on the importance of him signing that contract which ends in 2019.
“I believe in the symbolic strength of his actions.
“Marco is a top player and there were many clubs interested. He behaved great all this time and did not comment on everything. He never doubted his way and now he has committed to BVB with everything he has. That is important.”
Klopp, who is regarded as one of the top managers in world football at the moment, is a firm believer in the development of youth and has added a new player to the club a 16 year old Christian Pulisic.
“He is a great football player, he knows how to play,” the coach praised. “He did not leave a negative impression yesterday. We will do everything we can so he can develop quietly here. That is something not so easy with talented, young players as you could see with [Martin] Odegaard.”
Klopp also revealed that Erik Durm is likely to miss Friday’s clash with Mainz with flu, while Sven Bender will also be absent as he bids to return to training next week. Striker Adrian Ramos was left out of Klopp’s last squad completely on Saturday but could earn a recall.
As Dortmund prepare to take on Mainz on Friday, Klopp revealed that Erik Drun will miss the match with a flu while Sven Bender will also not be available.
“In Freiburg I decided to have one striker on the bench, not two. Adrian showed a very good reaction in training. If we have more fit players than we can take with us, there’ll always be tight decisions. I did not specifically decide against Adrian Ramos.”