Official: BVB find successor to club legend Schmelzer | OneFootball

After the departure of club legend Marcel Schmelzer, Borussia Dortmund quickly found a replacement solution. In the future, Miguel Moreira will strengthen the U23 coaching staff and brings plenty of experience with him.

Borussia Dortmund have sorted out Marcel Schmelzer’s successor in the U23s. After the long-time professional and previous assistant coach announced his departure for personal reasons, BVB have opted for an internal solution: Miguel Moreira is joining head coach Daniel Rios’ coaching staff with immediate effect. The 42-year-old most recently worked as a scout for the Black and Yellows, but he already brings plenty of experience on the touchline.

Moreira previously worked under Hannes Wolf in Borussia Dortmund’s youth setup and later was also part of the coaching staff at VfB Stuttgart, KRC Genk and Bayer Leverkusen. Moreira was already on the pitch alongside Daniel Rios and Patrick Fritsch at the start of Dortmund U23 training on Tuesday. After two days of performance testing, the team completed its first roughly 90-minute session of summer pre-season.

Rios was pleased about the addition to his coaching staff. “I’ve known Miguel for years. He brings experience at the professional level. You can tell he’s really eager to be back out on the pitch. That makes me extremely happy,” the U23 coach told Ruhr Nachrichten.

Moreira succeeds BVB legend Marcel Schmelzer

Alongside the new assistant coach, the club’s previous new signings as well as several talents from the U19s were also involved for the first time. However, there was also bad news in the goalkeeping department: first-choice goalkeeper Silas Ostrzinski is still sidelined through injury and, according to Ruhr Nachrichten, is currently expected to be out for several more weeks.

Photo: IMAGO

BVB’s U23 side finished last season in fifth place in the Regionalliga West. The team is now expected to take the next step in its development. Dortmund have around six weeks of preparation left before the season starts in early August.

Schmelzer had already announced his departure at the end of last season. The former captain wants to focus on his family for the time being, as he emphasized to Ruhr Nachrichten. “We’re expecting our second child in September, and that is the priority right now,” the 38-year-old explained as the reason for his decision. The BVB legend left open when he will return to football.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.