Preston North End and Luton Town in seven-figure transfer battle for Borussia Dortmund player | OneFootball

Championship rivals Luton Town and Preston North End have lodged offers for Borussia Dortmund youngster Antonios Papadopoulos, according to German publication Bild.

The 22-year-old, who is primarily a centre-back but can also operate as a defensive midfielder, is reported to have offers from both outfits from the second tier of England, with German giants Dortmund wanting €1.5 million – the equivalent of £1.28 million – for his services.

Born in Germany but of Greek descent, Papadopoulos only signed for Dortmund last summer, arriving from third tier side Hallscher, where he played 58 times in the league over two years.

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Papadopoulos headed to Dortmund’s second team, who also ply their trade in the 3. Liga – the third division of Germany – and this past season he appeared 26 times in that competition, picking up 11 yellow cards.

Before his second team debut though, Papadopoulos played 12 minutes of Dortmund’s Bundesliga match against Frankfurt, and at the end of April he made another appearance in Germany’s top flight when making a cameo against Bochum.

The Verdict

This link has come completely out of the blue, but from a PNE standpoint it may make a little bit of sense.

Even though it’s not a priority area, the defence is somewhere Ryan Lowe would need to look at with Sepp van den Berg heading back to Liverpool, and considering Papadopoulos has appeared for Dortmund’s first-team this season, he must have potential.

Therefore, the £1 million-plus fee that is being banded about may be worth paying, as Papadopoulos could improve in the future.

Luton also will need to look for at least one new defender with Kal Naismith departed, and the Dortmund youngster again could fit the bill of what they’re looking for.

Neither club often pay seven-figure fees though, so it would represent a bit of a change, although North End have done it more often recently as seen with the arrivals of Ali McCann, Ben Whiteman and Emil Riis.