Personnel
Borussia Dortmund sign duo for the U23s
The late departure of team captain Franz Pfanne to league rivals FC Hansa Rostock had left a vacancy in the defensive department. In the left-footed Lelle, U23 sporting director Ingo Preuß succeeded in quickly finding an alternative. The left-footed player comes from Rhineland-Palatinate and progressed through the youth ranks at 1. FC Kaiserslautern up to U16 level. The 1.89-metre-tall defender most recently played for the Holstein Kiel U23s. He made 29 appearances for the Storks last season, scoring one goal.
BVB coach Zimmermann is excited about the defender's arrival: "We've actually already had him on our radar for a while and have now reacted at short notice. He's a great player with a super attitude, a good education and above all a left foot. I'm delighted that it's now worked out at such short notice."
Attacking player Foti has spent the last two years on loan at Hannover 96 from Eintracht Frankfurt, where he has been playing since U17 level. He recently played for the Lower Saxony side at U23 level and helped them to gain promotion to the 3. Liga. The high-speed dribbler scored nine times across a total of nine Regionalliga appearances for the 96ers. He also played 17 times for the Hannover first team in the 2. Bundesliga.
The 20-year-old Cypriot still had a year to run on his Eintracht contract and both clubs have agreed not to disclose the terms of the transfer. "Toni Foti is a player I absolutely wanted, I'm totally convinced by him. He's a very creative and dangerous midfielder who possesses great dribbling and shooting abilities. In addition, he has good vision to set up goals. A big compliment to Ingo Preuß for managing to complete this transfer," said coach Zimmermann.