PROFILE | How could Copenhagen’s Victor Froholdt fit at Borussia Dortmund? | OneFootball

Ahead of this weekend, with the final game of the season against Holstein Kiel looming, the prospect of securing Champions League football seems more possible than ever for Borussia Dortmund. The level of European competition Dortmund will find themselves in will be an important indicator as to the type of business the club can do this coming summer when it comes to the transfer market. With Champions League football they of course become a far more attractive side for players to join, and their financial capability expands.

No matter where Dortmund ends up, however, the club will have to make signings to improve the squad. Midfield in particular has been a source of ailment for the club throughout the duration of the 2024/25 season, and it’s only sensible that the club should look to improve in this department.

This past season has shown in many ways what having a disjointed midfield can do to a club, with the negative results Dortmund suffered throughout the first two-thirds of the season having come from weak midfield displays. The middle of the park was often danced through by opponents with ease, exposing the defence to additional, unnecessary pressure and therefore leading to an excess number of chances, and goals scored against this side.

On the flip side, up until Niko Kovač’s tenure really got going, the attacking side of things was also quite sub-par for Die Schwarzgelben. Dortmund’s midfield felt disjointed and lacked both creativity and ability to transition between defense and attack, which often led to stagnant play that resulted in unnecessarily dropped points against opponents that the club should otherwise dispatch with relative ease, based on the quality they boast on the pitch in comparison.

Dortmund seems to be making strides to rectify this issue long-term by targeting players to fill these midfield roles. One such target seems to be FC Copenhagen’s Victor Froholdt.

Froholdt ticks the boxes for Dortmund in more than one way when it comes to their current predicament or any of the potential scenarios that might play out in terms of European football qualification. The player is young, relatively affordable in terms of his market value, and has the skill set to really improve Dortmund in the middle of the park.

Taking a closer look at the player, Froholdt predominantly plies his trade as a central midfielder, and could very much play a box-to-box role for Dortmund should the move materialise. Froholdt boasts an impressive 2.56 progressive carries per 90, as well as 1.28 successful take-ons per 90, per FBRef. The player is also very much capable of finding himself in a forward-thinking position as his 3.52 progressive passes received per would suggest. Froholdt is a very physical player who can and will showcase his relentless nature on the pitch as he runs at the opposition, with players often bouncing off of him when they try to stop his runs. His four goals and one assist this season are something that he could perhaps build on in coming seasons, but at 19 he has a substantial amount of time to grow and develop in this vein.

On the defensive end of things, Froholdt is a stalwart interceptor of the ball. His 1.44 interceptions per 90 doesn’t fully do his ability to intercept and create transitional play justice, but coupled with his tackling record (which stands at 3.04 tackles per 90), he really is a handful for opposition teams to deal with. If you add this to his strong work rate, you have a player who could very well be built for working under Niko Kovač in this Dortmund side. His style of play is physical yet elegant, with Froholdt not only capable of dishing out tackles but also quite good at evading them himself.

While scouring the Bundesliga for top talent is and will continue to be part of Dortmund’s strategy, for those of us who’ve followed the club since the Klopp days, they know that the club is capable of being inventive when it comes to finding “diamond in the rough” type players across leagues outside the top five in Europe. They proved that very recently with the winter loan deal of Daniel Svensson from FC Nordsjælland. Making the deal permanent was a very good decision for the club to make in recent days, as Svensson has very much excelled in making the step up from the Danish Superliga. Froholdt could very much be a similar type of story for Dortmund, should they look to sign the Danish youngster.

If Dortmund do end up trying to sign Froholdt, they look set to face competition from Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayer Leverkusen for his signature; a sign that the club is certainly looking in the right place for a potential new player. Frankfurt’s Hugo Larsson, whom Dortmund was also linked with prior to the player joining Frankfurt, is an example of the sort of success story Dortmund could enjoy should Froholdt join, but also a cautionary tale indicating that the club could lose out on the player depending on the parameters Frankfurt offer.

Of course, with the possibility of Champions League football (still not secured at the time of writing), Dortmund could have the edge over Frankfurt in such a scenario. Depending on how many players Dortmund move on in the midfield (and sign), Froholdt may have a substantial amount of minutes available to him next season in black and yellow. According to current information, Froholdt has a contract until 2028 and a market valuation of €2m. While the price will likely be higher than the market valuation, Dortmund can likely still sign the player for around 10 million euros or less (especially if we take Svensson’s fee into account), making him a solid, affordable addition to the squad in terms of depth, with an eye on a promising future starting role at the Westfalenstadion.

GGFN | Brian Szlenk