Spending last season on loan at Union Berlin, Nico Schlotterbeck returned to SC Freiburg with a view to making himself a spot in the first-team, which is exactly what he’s done.
In fact, the defender’s performances have been very promising, which is why Borussia Dortmund are looking at him, as are Newcastle United.
The Magpies were desperately looking for a new centre-back during the January window to bolster Eddie Howe’s defence, and while they signed Dan Burn from Brighton, he wasn’t their first target.
The likes of Sven Botman and Diego Carlos were higher up the list, and it appears Schlotterbeck was as well.
A lot rests on how he fares during the second half of the season, but it’s made clear that ‘Newcastle United’s reported interest in the winter is unlikely to be met with much approval’.
As for Bayern Munich, they are focusing on free transfers, making Borussia Dortmund the favourites, if you want to call it that, for his signing.
So, it seems that if Newcastle want Schlotterbeck in the summer, they are going to need to be extra convincing.