Borussia Dortmund sporting director Michael Zorc is keen to retain Reinier amid reports the Real Madrid teenager’s loan could be cut short.
Reinier joined Dortmund on a two-year loan deal from Madrid last August, but the 18-year-old has struggled to make an impact for the Bundesliga club.
Reports in Spain claim that Madrid are looking to end the deal early and send the Brazilian on loan to Valladolid, who are owned by the attacker’s compatriot Ronaldo.
Why it does matter?
When Reinier signed for Dortmund last summer, it was with the intention of him playing regularly to build up first-team experience before he returned to push for a place in the Madrid side.
However, Reinier has yet to start a competitive game for Dortmund since moving to Germany. He has made just four substitute appearances in the Bundesliga, while featuring twice from the bench in the Champions League and once in the DFB-Pokal.
Having arrived in Madrid from Flamengo with a huge reputation 12 months ago, reports have suggested the Spanish giants are concerned that Reinier’s development is stalling due to his lack of action.
What’s been said?
“We have a lot of competition in attack,” Zorc told Sport1 on the back of reports Reinier’s loan will be cut short.
“We basically don’t want to give him up. Of course, I’ll listen to everything. If someone is dissatisfied because he has too few opportunities, then you talk to each other, but we will not take the initiative ourselves.”
The bigger picture
Reiner has not had the easiest of times since his move to Dortmund and tested positive for coronavirus in November after returning from international duty with the Brazil Under-23 side.
In addition, Dortmund may be reluctant to lose a talented player from their squad after seeing Axel Witsel likely ruled out for the rest of the season after suffering an Achilles tendon injury during Saturday’s win over RB Leipzig.
Zorc has confirmed that Dortmund do not plan to sign a replacement for Witsel and that could lead to increased opportunities for Reinier to make his mark during the second half of the season.