Can Sebastian Rode Fill The Void Left By Ilkay Gundagan's Manchester City Exit In Borussia Dortmund?

BY EWAH CHIKA

After the signing of Bayern Munich's young and versatile midfielder Sebastian Rode for £11.8 million by Borussia Dortmund (sold Turkish born German central midfielder Ilkay Gundogan for £21 million), Michael Zorc the Sporting Director of Dortmund had this to say about the determined and tough tackling midfielder, "Sebastian Rode is dynamic and tough-tackling, and he's a player who will be very valuable to us from a character perspective."

Rode is the same age with the departing Gundogan but is yet to feature for the national side. The player is hardworking and is blessed with an industrious work ethic which makes up for his lack of talent in certain situations . The player is so versatile that he was named as a defender in the team sheet sometimes last season in Munich. Rode moved to Bayern on a free from Eintract Frankfurt after the departure of Toni Kroos in 2014 to Real Madrid. He played 94 Bundesliga games for Frankfurt scoring four goals. In Bayern his game time was limited as Pep Guardiola preferred the likes of Xabi Alonso, Thiago Alcantara , Javi Martinez and Philipe Lahm ahead of him in his (Rode) first season and then Arturo Vidal joining in his second season from Juventus to complicate matters for the German. 

In total Rode made 38 league appearances in two seasons in Munich. Last season, he started two games making 12 substitute appearances and scoring a goal and providing one assist in the league. The midfielder wasn't suited to Guardiola's passing and possession based style of football but this will not be the case in Ruhr as he will compliment Julian Wiegl perfectly in the centre of the park with his tough tackling and energy which will be devastating for opponents as his ball recovery and redistribution will be necessary for the likes of Emerick Pierre Aubameyang and Marco Reus to score volumes of goals. Coupled With his combative nature, Rode had an average of 4 shots per game with a pass accuracy of 91.9% which is miles ahead of many masters of the game. Rode possesses a perfect box-to-box talent with concentration but must work on his fouls and inability to hold on to the ball more often so as not to put his team under undue pressure. 

Though filling the void left by Gundogan will be difficult for the midfielder , he will find more game in Dortmund where he will develop further into one of the finest box-to-box midfielders and compliment his team mates at the club.