Borussia Dortmund have stepped up their pursuit of Renato Veiga once again as the club scramble to bring in cover for Niklas Sule before the summer transfer deadline.
Sule is expected to be sidelined for around two months after hobbling out of Dortmund’s pre-season clash with Juventus with a torn calf muscle on Sunday.
BVB are also without Nico Schlotterbeck, who is still yet to return from a serious knee problem, and the looming threat of a full-blown defensive injury crisis has forced the club to consider their options in the transfer market.
According to Sky Deutschland, young Argentine defender Juan Gimenez, 19, who plays for Rosario Central, has been on Dortmund’s radar for some time and is a potential option for the Bundesliga outfit.
It would likely require an offer of between €5-8m (£4.3-6.9m) for Dortmund to snap up Gimenez.
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The report claims have also remain interested in Chelsea defender Veiga having first explored a move for the versatile Portugal international in January.
BVB’s bid to sign Veiga over the winter had appeared to be creeping in the right direction and the 22-year-old even agreed personal terms over a switch to the Westfalenstadion.
However, the proposed move never materialised and Veiga would go on to join Juventus on loan for the second half of the campaign, with the centre-half making 15 appearances in all competitions for the Serie A giants.
There are still six years remaining on Veiga’s current contract at Stamford Bridge.
Veiga has struggled to establish himself at Chelsea having joined the club in a £12m deal from FC Basel just a year ago and reports last month claimed the Portuguese was keen to quit the Blues.
Enzo Maresca left Veiga out of his squad for Chelsea’s Club World Cup campaign this summer and it appears the youngster is not a part of the Italian’s plans for the upcoming season.
It was only last October that Maresca singled Veiga out for special praise after handing the ex-Basel man a rare start in the side’s Europa Conference League victory over Panathinaikos.
‘I just said to Renato, he has played already as a centre-back, a full-back, holding midfielder, attacking midfielder,’ the Chelsea head coach told reporters after the 4-1 win.
‘He has already played four or five positions. One of my first press conferences, I said that the reason why I really like and love Chelsea is because many players can be versatile.
‘Today, in my idea, if they can play different positions, then it is better for the team and especially for the players. Today, if you just play one position, I don’t think it’s enough.
‘You need to learn more positions. Renato, Malo [Gusto], they are playing in different positions and they are doing well.’
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