Last season's Bundesliga top scorer Niclas Füllkrug will lead the line for Borussia Dortmund. - © DFL

bundesliga

How will Borussia Dortmund line up with Niclas Füllkrug?

02.09.2023

Borussia Dortmund have completed the shock signing of last season's top scorer Niclas Füllkrug from Werder Bremen. How will BVB line up with the Germany striker?

Füllkrug has signed a three-year contract at the Signal Iduna Park, and could make his debut as soon as Friday, when Edin Terzic's side welcome promoted Heidenheim to North Rhine-Westphalia.

Füllkrug scored 16 goals for Bremen last season, sharing the Torjägerkanone with RB Leipzig's Christopher Nkunku, who has since left for Chelsea.

Watch: All of Füllkrug's Bundesliga goals last season

He joins fellow new arrivals Marcel Sabitzer, Felix Nmecha and Ramy Bensebaini in Dortmund, with Jude Bellingham's move to Real Madrid the most significant transfer away from the club.

Terzic now has an embarrassment of riches in every department. How is he most likely to use them?

In both Bundesliga games this season - a 1-0 victory over Cologne and 1-1 draw at Bochum - Terzic has used a 4-2-3-1 formation, as he did in the vast majority of his Bundesliga games last term, only once deviating from a back four and playing with a lone striker throughout.

Watch: Füllkrug, Haller or both?

Last season it was variously Sebastien Haller, Youssoufa Moukoko and Anthony Modeste who led the line, with the former making his return from testicular cancer in January.

Füllkrug will likely take that spot, with wide men either side of him rather than a strike partner like he had at Bremen with Marvin Ducksch.

When Karim Adeyemi returns from a torn muscle fibre, BVB will have pace to burn on the flanks, with the Bundesliga's fastest player ever on one wing and Donyell Malen on the other. Julian Brandt will likely shift back to No.10 at that point, with Marco Reus' minutes being managed.

In Niclas Füllkrug, Marcel Sabitzer and Ramy Bensebaini, Dortmund have signed some top players this summer. - DFL

Reus surrendered the captain's armband to Emre Can this summer, and it is he who will anchor the midfield alongside Sabitzer, who arrived from Bayern Munich via a loan spell with Manchester United. Nmecha can provide ample cover there, or for Brandt and Reus further forward.

In defence, Bensebaini has replaced the Bayern-bound Raphael Guerreiro at left-back seamlessly since arriving from Borussia Mönchengladbach, while Nico Schlotterbeck, Mats Hummels and Niklas Süle give Terzic more centre-backs than he can play - which is a welcome selection headache over the course of a 34-game season.

Whether Dortmund can finally dethrone Bayern remains to be seen, but with Füllkrug their latest piece of summer business, they have given themselves the best possible chance.