Marco Reus is no longer captain at BVB

Borussia Dortmund’s longtime captain Marco Reus will no longer be captain of the German soccer runners-up next season. “I had a lot of time to think on vacation and decided to pass on the captain’s armband,” said Reus in a video shared by BVB on social media on Thursday. The 34-year-old said he informed coach Edin Terzic and sports director Sebastian Kehl the day before.

“I was proud to wear this captain’s armband for five years and it was a great honor,” said Reus. He wishes Kehl and Terzic “that they find a very, very good successor. I’m very sure of that.”

Reus recently had no regular place at BVB. In the last Bundesliga season, the native of Dortmund took part in 25 games and was in the starting line-up 14 times. The offensive player scored six goals in the league.

BVB started preparations for the new season on Wednesday with a skeleton team. In the absence of around a dozen professionals who had still played for their national teams in June and are therefore only returning from vacation on July 15, the first medical performance tests were carried out at the Bundesliga club.

The focus of media interest was Felix Nmecha, whose commitment caused discussions among fans. Followers had criticized two posts shared by the former Wolfsburg resident and quickly deleted on social media as homophobic and anti-queer. Nmecha himself, in announcing his move, asked fans for a chance to “get to know me” and see “I hope I’m a great person”. When criticizing his posts, some things were taken out of context.

Dortmund’s second new signing Ramy Bensebaini was not there yet. The full-back, who moved to BVB from Mönchengladbach, belongs to the group of latecomers after his assignment for the Algerian national team.

Daniel Theweleit Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 4

The Bundesliga runners-up, who lost the championship 2-2 against FSV Mainz 05 on the last matchday of last season, will play their first test match next Wednesday at Oberliga side Westfalia Rhynern. Before leaving for the USA, further games at Rot-Weiss Oberhausen (July 19) and Rot-Weiss Erfurt (July 22) are planned.

During the trip to America, coach Edin Terzic’s team will meet San Diego Loyal (July 28) and the two English clubs Manchester United (July 31/Las Vegas) and Chelsea FC (August 3/Chicago). The dress rehearsal is on August 6th at home against Ajax Amsterdam.