Union Berlin again fending off interest in Diogo Leite and Danilho Doekhi | OneFootball

Dennis Bayer reports that at least two Serie A clubs – AFC Fiorentina and Como – are interesting in Union Berlin central defender Diogo Leite. Berlin’s Köpenicker – should they hope to avoid the Bundesliga relegation race this season – must indeed continue to fend off interested parties for two valuable centre-backs: Leite and Danilho Doekhi. The latter has been linked with moves to Italy, Spain, Turkey, and even England.

Both Leite (valued at €17m) and Doehki (valued at €13m) are entering the final years of their respective FCU contracts. Union entered the summer of 2024 knowing that they would have to fight to keep both defenders. History repeats this year as die Eisernen must deal with the exact same problem. Can the pair be convinced to remain with a struggling club?

Kicker addresses the issue in a report from FCU training camp. In his first summer training camp with the squad, head coach Steffen Baumgart has been deploying midfielder Alex Kral and Tom Rothe in the back-three in the first two friendlies. Union assist coach Sebastian Bönig is quoted in the article as stating that the coaching staff does wish to stick with a back-three while potentially preparing for Leite and Doekhi’s departures.

“It’s no secret that the back three has worked very well in recent years,” Bönig is quoted as saying. “But we’ll have to see what happens with Diogo and Danilho.”

“We remain alert at all positions and are watching to see what happens,” Baumgart adds in the article. “There’s certainly much more that will happen with players coming and going.“

Union do maintain the services of young Austrian talent Leopold Querfeld, who scored an absolute screaming of a goal in the wild record-breaking matchday 30 4-4 draw with Stuttgart. Young German Nigerian talent Oluwaseun Ogbemudia (18) also received a professional contract this summer.

Though many Union fans may have forgotten about him, former Germany U21 international Paul Jaeckel is also still part of the squad. The 26-year-old recently returned from a 2. Bundesliga loan stint with Eintracht Braunschweig, at which he at least earned some regular playing time.

Jaeckel scored one goal and contributed two assists in 23 league appearances for the Lower Saxon Lions last year. The formerly €7.5m valued talent also started and went the full 90 minutes in both of Braunschweig’s promotion-relegation playoff matches.

Whilst helping Braunschweig avoid relegation, Jaeckel pushed his total number of 2. Bundesliga appearances up to 90. The now €1m-valued centre-back still brings with him the experience of 49 German top flight deployments.

GGFN | Peter Weis