Dzenis Burnic, 19, who captained BVB's A-Juniors to the title last season, is moving to newly-promoted top-flight outfit VfB Stuttgart for one year. "It's a temporary loan," emphasised Sporting Director Michael Zorc.

Midfielder Burnic has been with the Black and Yellows since 2006. He started at U9 level and has won four consecutive German youth titles in the last four years (two with the U17s, two with the U19s). Last season he played for BVB in the UEFA Champions League in a 2-1 away victory over Sporting Lisbon and made his Bundesliga debut in Darmstadt. The 19-year-old will now be linking up with former junior coach Hannes Wolf in Stuttgart, where he will have more playing opportunities.

"Dzenis has been very successful with us at youth level," explained Zorc, before adding: "We hope that he gets as much playing time as possible in Stuttgart next season, and we know that he is in good hands with Hannes Wolf. We will be closely monitoring his progress."