1. FC Union has announced the next new signings for the coming season. The flexible attacking player Jamie Leweling comes to Berlin from Greuther Fürth who were relegated. According to “Kicker”, the 21-year-old junior national player should cost four million euros and is the second Fürther after Paul Seguin to come to Union after relegation. “In recent years it has been very easy to see that Union is a club where players can develop and get better. For me as a young player, that’s a very important point,” Leweling is quoted as saying.
A day earlier, Union had already announced the transfer of Danilho Doekhi. The 23-year-old Dutchman comes from Vitesse Arnhem. The central defender captained the sixth-placed Eredivisie team last season and has now switched to the Europa League participants in Berlin on a free transfer once his contract has expired.
“With the move to the Bundesliga, I want to take the next step in my career. Union is a huge opportunity for me and I want to take the club further on its way,” Doekhi said in a club statement. “During the talks, I also got the feeling that I can continue to improve here. I’ve also heard a lot about the stadium and the atmosphere here.”
Last season, Doekhi made 29 league appearances for Vitesse, plus 11 games in the Conference League. The defender scored four goals. In total, he has already played 107 first division games. In his youth, Doekhi was active for his hometown club Excelsior Rotterdam and Ajax. In Amsterdam, Doekhi played with Matthijs de Ligt and Justin Kluivert, among others. Unlike his former colleagues, the centre-back is still awaiting his debut for the senior team. He made five appearances for the U21s.
“Danilho has the ideal qualifications for a modern centre-back. He has a strong physique, but is also very agile at the same time,” says Union manager Oliver Ruhnert. “In addition, as captain of Vitesse, he learned to take responsibility.”
In any case, manager Ruhnert has enough to do these days. In addition to talks about arrivals and departures, the situation of the loan players must also be clarified. With Timo Baumgartl, it looks very much as if PSV Eindhoven will let the central defender stay in Berlin for another year. Rick van Drongelen, Tymoteusz Puchacz, Pawel Wszolek and Leon Dajaku would have to return to Berlin after their loans for the new season. However, it is unlikely that they will all stay with Union.
A special case is van Drongelen. The Dutchman was recently involved as a driver in a car accident that killed an 18-year-old. “Rick is on the mend and planning to come back here,” Ruhnert said, but urged patience. “Even if he is apparently completely innocent, it affects him very much.” Training at Union starts on June 20th, three days later it goes to a short training camp in Bad Saarow, before later working on the form in Austria.
