Should Borussia Dortmund consider signing Leeds United star Ilia Gruev?

With preparations for next season set to get into full swing now that Borussia Dortmund’s campaign has ended, reports have started to come thick and fast regarding potential targets the club may be pursuing. If we consider the last few months, BVB’s interest in Leeds United players has increased significantly.

Borussia Dortmund are set to strengthen in a number of positions this summer and the likes of Archie Gray and Crysencio Summerville have been linked with both the wings and midfield being the cornerstones of this upcoming overhaul. Most recently, however, Leeds United defensive midfielder Ilia Gruev has come into the spotlight and BVB are looking to provide competition for club captain Emre Can in the middle of the park.

Gruev had a strong campaign for Leeds in the Championship, signing from Weder Bremen last season for €6.5m. Under Daniel Farke, especially in the second half of the season, he played a very important role in protecting Leeds’ defense as they pushed for promotion to the Premier League.

Their failure to do so is not a bad reflection on Gruev, but it may provide an opportunity for Borussia Dortmund to look for a player with Bundesliga experience as a transfer candidate.

While it is still not set in stone that Borussia Dortmund will pull the trigger on signing Ilia Gruev, the report in question indicates that they have indeed sent representatives to pursue the Bulgaria international, including squad planner Sven Mislintat. The report also indicates that Leeds want to keep hold of the player and have rejected offers from Premier League clubs in the process. With a contract until 2027, it may not be an easy task to offload the Bulgaria international.

It would also be in Borussia Dortmund’s interest to ensure Gruev is the right profile of player to challenge and replace Emre Can if needed. Looking at him from a numbers perspective, Gruev has 1.6 tackles, 0.9 interceptions and 0.4 clearances per 90 this season.

In Can’s case, the current BVB captain made 2.58 tackles, 1.07 interceptions 1.35 blocks and 1.73 clearances per 90, emphasizing far more defensive involvement than Gruev.

That said, during his time with Leeds this season, Gruev has been praised for his ability to free up other players in midfield, allowing them to get forward more freely thanks to his spatial awareness and ability to play the ball into areas good for his colleagues. to take advantage of.

In the league alone, Gruev averaged 2.5 key passes per game, something we’ve seen Emre Can struggle with. On top of that, Can’s early season form made it harder for players like Marcel Sabitzer to step forward and express himself in the final third (one of Sabitzer’s strengths as we saw in the second half of the season) and that it greatly disrupted the cohesion of the BVB midfield.

Gruev, at least in Farke’s system, has been praised for providing stability, which is something Borussia Dortmund could benefit from especially in terms of getting the best out of the rest of the midfield contingent.

It is clear that Borussia Dortmund need to strengthen the defensive midfield to provide adequate competition for Can or to ensure that there is a quality player to step in when he underperforms. Gruev would be an interesting place for BVB to start in this search, but like any potential deal, it will depend on how much they are willing to spend and how much Leeds want to hang on to their player.