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Dortmund sporting director Michael Zorc: We could have signed Lamela
The Bundesliga champions considered signing the attacking midfielder last summer but instead opted to wait for Borussia Monchengladbach's Marco Reus to become available
13-Feb-2012 8:55:57 PM
By Mark Doyle
Getty Images
Borussia Dortmund sporting director Michael Zorc has revealed that the club decided against making a move for Erik Lamela before the Argentine signed for Roma.
Lamela made a €12 million switch to the Stadio Olimpico just before the start of the season but Zorc has claimed that the German champions were also in the hunt for the attacking midfielder before eventually deciding to wait for Borussia Monchengladbach star Marco Reus to become available.
"There were too many uncertainties [with Lamela]," Zorc is quoted as saying by Kicker. "With Marco Reus, we knew what we would get."
Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp was also of the opinion that Reus represented a much wiser investment.
"In Marco we had a character we could 100 per cent evaluate," he explained. "That is very important. With Lamela, we could not do that."
Dortmund landed Reus in spite of interest from Bayern Munich, which appears to suggest that the Bundesliga titleholders are now on an equal footing with the Bavarian giants.
That is not the case, though, according to Zorc.
"We will never claim that we can measure ourselves against Bayern Munich," he stated. "The financial fundamentals are just too different."
Meanwhile, Zorc and Klopp recently signed contract extensions with the club which will keep them at the Westfalenstadion until 2016 and the latter admitted that the current set-up at Dortmund could not be more agreeable at the moment.
"Right now everything is good," he enthused. "And all that's good is related to the fact that we have an outstanding relationship with each other.
"The players, my coaching staff, Michael Zorc, [CEO] Hans-Joachim Watzke, [owner] Dr. Reinhard Rauball - this is really good."
Dortmund, who face Hertha Berlin in the German capital this weekend, currently lead the Bundesliga by two points from rivals Bayern.
How do you stay up to date with football when on the move? With http://m.goal.com – your best source for mobile coverage of the beautiful game.
Lamela made a €12 million switch to the Stadio Olimpico just before the start of the season but Zorc has claimed that the German champions were also in the hunt for the attacking midfielder before eventually deciding to wait for Borussia Monchengladbach star Marco Reus to become available.
"There were too many uncertainties [with Lamela]," Zorc is quoted as saying by Kicker. "With Marco Reus, we knew what we would get."
Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp was also of the opinion that Reus represented a much wiser investment.
"In Marco we had a character we could 100 per cent evaluate," he explained. "That is very important. With Lamela, we could not do that."
Dortmund landed Reus in spite of interest from Bayern Munich, which appears to suggest that the Bundesliga titleholders are now on an equal footing with the Bavarian giants.
That is not the case, though, according to Zorc.
"We will never claim that we can measure ourselves against Bayern Munich," he stated. "The financial fundamentals are just too different."
Meanwhile, Zorc and Klopp recently signed contract extensions with the club which will keep them at the Westfalenstadion until 2016 and the latter admitted that the current set-up at Dortmund could not be more agreeable at the moment.
"Right now everything is good," he enthused. "And all that's good is related to the fact that we have an outstanding relationship with each other.
"The players, my coaching staff, Michael Zorc, [CEO] Hans-Joachim Watzke, [owner] Dr. Reinhard Rauball - this is really good."
Dortmund, who face Hertha Berlin in the German capital this weekend, currently lead the Bundesliga by two points from rivals Bayern.
How do you stay up to date with football when on the move? With http://m.goal.com – your best source for mobile coverage of the beautiful game.
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