Marco Reus Feb 2014
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Marco Reus contract extension boosts desperate Borussia Dortmund

| 10.02.2015
SPORTSBOOK ODDS

Borussia Dortmund, 5/2 chances with Coal to win their Champions League last 16 first leg away at Juventus, have been bolstered by the news that star forward Marco Reus has extended his contract with the club until the summer of 2019.

This comes in spite of Jurgen Klopp’s team occupying a spot in the Bundesliga’s bottom three after a nightmarish first half of their domestic campaign. Dortmund’s dearth in German football comes in stark contrast to their European adventure, however, where they lost just once en route to reaching the knockout phase of the Champions League.

By committing his future to the side whose academy he spent a decade in (1996-2006), Reus appears to be rejecting overtures from Real Madrid. Los Blancos have been strongly and consistently linked with a swoop for him.

In recent years, the likes of compatriot quartet Christoph Metzelder, Mesut Ozil, Sami Khedira and Toni Kroos have all played for the Bernabeu outfit, but it seems Reus prefers his hometown team. He even said as much.

“I am very happy with my decision for Borussia Dortmund,” said Reus. “Dortmund is my hometown and Borussia is simply my club. I look forward to a successful future with our team and our fantastic fans behind us. There is plenty to do and I want to really get stuck in.”

The Westfalenstafion outfit took to Twitter to confirm Reus’ contract extension:

Dortmund chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke believes Reus could become his club’s equivalent of Steven Gerrard. “We never let ourselves be guided by all the rumours and saw a good chance that this exceptional player deliberately opts for a future with Dortmund,” he said.

“Marco can shape an era in Dortmund, as has been done before him by Uwe Seeler in Hamburg or Steven Gerrard in Liverpool. That Marco has decided to remain, in the midst of a sporting crisis for BVB, shows a high degree of identification, of which we are very proud.”

Klopp’s domestic plight has come about largely because of injuries, and Reus has suffered from more than his fair share of those recently. He missed Germany’s World Cup triumph in Brazil with ankle ligament damage, and has broken down with similar problems on two occasions since.

Perhaps earmarked as a potential long-term successor to Real and Portugal icon Cristiano Ronaldo, 25-year-old Reus has still managed a goal every other game (seven in 14 across all competitions) this term.

Leading Premier League clubs such as Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United were also linked with him, but Jose Mourinho’s Blues made a reported £24m winter window move for Colombia winger Juan Cuadrado from Fiorentina instead.

Bundesliga champions, leaders and Dortmund’s increasingly bitter rivals Bayern Munich were rumoured to hold interest too but, having poached Poland striker Robert Lewandowski and bought Mario Gotze for big money from them in the last two years, this option looked unlikely.

Reus netted the opener in his last outing at Freiburg as Klopp’s team ran out 3-0 winners to move off the bottom. Dortmund are odds-on at 1/3 to follow up that victory with another against Mainz.

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Author

Jamie Clark

Athletics aficionado, die-hard snooker fan and Crystal Palace supporter Jamie has written for Coral since February 2014 after spells with Soccerlens and the Press Association as a digital journalist and copywriter. A former East Midlands sports correspondent and Bwin tipster, he is a graduate of both the University of York and University of Sheffield, with a Masters in web journalism from the latter.