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When Jurgen Klopp called it a day on his time at the helm of Borussia Dortmund, the curtains had been drawn on one of the seminal eras at Westfalenstadion. Pundits predicted a mass exodus in the wake of the departure of Klopp, which would’ve left Dortmund severely crippled.
As Danke Kloppo messages and eulogies flooded in, the likes of Ilkay Gundogan, Jakub Blaszczykowski, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, and last but not the least, their Wunderkind, Marco Reus were all expected to leave the club for good.
The swift appointment of Thomas Tuchel as his successor, and the magnetic pull of arguably Europe’s greatest fans has seen the players stay put, with the exception of last year’s biggest disappointment, Ciro Immobile.
The case of Marco Reus though, was never in much doubt – after all, he had signed a four-year contract extension that would keep him at the club till 2019. Not that contract extensions and buy-out clauses mean anything in this day and age though, as the Mohammed Salah transfer saga has shown. However, “Rolls Reus”, as Die Borussen lovingly call their biggest superstar, would be better off if he does leave the Signal Iduna Park.
Liverpool is the latest club to join the bandwagon of his ever-expanding admirers. And with Raheem Sterling’s sale giving them the requisite injection of cash, Reus would do well to look up and take notice of the interest surrounding him.
While a move to Anfield wouldn’t do him much good, especially with the Merseyside club not playing in the Champions League, he could surely do worse than contemplate on listening to offers from other European giants.
Last man standing
The fact that Dortmund’s eternal nemesis Bayern Munich, is an admirer of Reus, is an open secret. But like the Bavarian giants themselves admitted, they do not want to further strain their relationship with Hans-Joachim Watzke and Co, after the signings of Mario Gotze and Robert Lewandowski.
However, a move to the Allianz Arena seems like a match made in heaven, for both parties involved. With Franck Ribery being bogged down by multiple injuries, Reus could well replace him as Bayern’s primary threat down the left-wing. Needless to say, the former Monchengladbach star would be better suited to the role than Douglas Costa.
Another club that was chomping at the bit to sign the German earlier this year, was Paris Saint-Germain. Nasser Al-Khelaifi even went to the extent of offering the youngster the use of his treasured private jet; he was that desperate to add Reus to his roster, especially with the underwhelming performances of Ezequiel Lavezzi and Lucas Moura. However, the new contract that ties Reus at the Westfalenstadion till 2019, seems to have deterred them too.
Time isn’t exactly on the baby-faced assassin’s side, contrary to popular belief. At 26, it is time for Reus to grow out of his “promising talent” tag, and start delivering on a consistent basis, much like he did during his days at Monchengladbach, and during the 2012-13 season with Dortmund.
For someone who is regularly mentioned in the same breath as any world-class player below the big two, Reus surely has miles to go before he sleeps. To put things in perspective, Lionel Messi had just won his fourth consecutive Ballon D’Or, when he was as old as Reus.
With him reaching an age where he should be at the peak of his powers, Reus should essentially be gunning for that one, big-ticket move that would catapult him back into contention for a regular spot in the Euro 2016 squad.
With only a year to go before Europe’s biggest footballing extravaganza kicks off, it is imperative that Reus ensures the steady and regular growth of his stock this upcoming season. And playing in a Champions League club would do his case wonders. Joachim Low, who is a firm fan of the blonde German bombshell, will definitely keep an eye on his only world class winger over the coming months.
Injury plays a cruel joke
The very fact that his place in the Die Mannschaft set up would be under a cloud, sounded eminently laughable until a year ago. It was during a friendly encounter against Armenia in June 2014, roughly a week before Germany kicked off their historic campaign in Brazil, that Reus suffered a heartbreaking injury.
With his World Cup dream left in tatters, Reus had to watch on, as his friend and erstwhile partner in crime Mario Götze scored Germany’s winning goal on that incredible night at the Maracana.
Lady Luck didn’t smile on Reus anytime soon though, as he injured his ankle again in September 2014. He returned a month and a half later, only to be stretchered off in a month’s time, as injury after injury after injury kept hitting him.
Reus was the emblem of a Dortmund squad, which spent more time under the knife than on the pitch. However, one can expect Reus to come back fighting fit in the coming season and spark life into the campaign of whichever club he plays for. After all, as the famous sporting cliche goes, “Form is temporary, class is permanent”.
Extending his stay with the club that loves him and he loves back, shows a balanced head on the frail shoulders of Reus. However, it is time for him to sit down, take a deep breath and see where his career graph is heading.
The former poster boy of German football, Reus is the only bona fide superstar in a club that is caught in an existential crisis right now, with their sustained challenge against the Die Roten having culminated with a whimper.
While one must applaud the reasons behind his contract extension, one must also take the naivety displayed by the winger with a pinch of salt. After all, with all due respect to Borussia Dortmund, the player who was once slated to be Cristiano Ronaldo’s successor at the Santiago Bernabeu, simply deserves to play for a better club. It is indeed time to move on, Marco.
