The club are currently in negotiations with Dayot Upamecano over a new contract, with the defender’s deal set to expire next summer. However, the Frenchman is not short of suitors and will be free to negotiate with other clubs once the January transfer window opens. Inter Milan, Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and Liverpool have all been linked with the central defender.

Should the France international leave the Allianz Arena, Murillo is among Bayern’s top targets to replace him. However, it would likely be a very costly deal for die Rekordmeister, as the Brazilian is under contract with the Reds until 2029 and crucially, does not have a release clause.

Murillo joined Forest from Corinthians in the summer of 2023 and has been instrumental to the club’s progress over the past two seasons—particularly last season, when they secured Europa League qualification with a seventh-place finish in the Premier League.

GGFN | Harry Good

When asked whether he still sees his future at the club he has called home for the past six years, Heuer Fernandes said: “Of course I can imagine my future in Hamburg. I’m glad to be here, that’s why HSV is always an obvious option for me.” 

It wasn’t a given that the German-Portuguese dual national would start the season as Merlin Polzin’s number one, despite wearing the shirt to match. With Hamburg having signed Daniel Peretz on loan from Bayern Munich, Heuer Fernandes had to fend off competition from the Israeli to keep the position he has held for the past six seasons. 

Speaking about his and HSV’s good start to the season, he remained modest: “We’ve only completed the sixth matchday and still have a long way to go to achieve our goal – that’s my focus at the moment.” 

He remains calm about his contract situation: “I don’t see the topic of contract extension as priority number one at the moment, especially since it has not yet been discussed with those responsible.” 

Heuer Fernandes is clearly proud of his HSV career thus far. He is the second-highest appearance maker in the Hamburg squad, behind Bakary Jatta: “I’m proud of it. That’s not always easy and every day in such a special position as goalkeeper,” he said. “The last goalkeeper to be number 1 for HSV for so long in recent decades was Richard Golz. It’s something extraordinary when my name is mentioned afterwards.” 

GGFN | Harry Good 

Playing alongside Johan Bakayoko, Yan Diomande and Antonio Nusa – two of which like Rômulo joined in the summer – the Brazilian referenced Timo Werner as a player who has helped him adapt to life in the Bundesliga. Leipzig’s top scorer has 113 goals but hasn’t had a look-in at the Saxony club for some time now, although he’s still able to offer his assistance to his teammates.

“Timo is a really good boy, very funny – I like him. He supports me every day in training, praising me with words like ‘good’ or ‘bravo’. He’s a great player. It’s good to have him on the team,” said Rômulo, via Bild.

Is Rômulo destined for the Brazil national team?

Rômulo has already been linked with a call up to the Brazil national team, but it’s currently not something that the 23-year-old is focused on. “My focus here is on Leipzig. If I do a good job here, maybe one day I’ll be there soon.”

GGFN | Daniel Pinder

Against Die Grün-Weißen, Boey played the full 90 minutes, completed 80 percent of his passes and created two chances in what was his best performance in a Bayern shirt. But prior to Bayern’s Matchday 6 win against Eintracht Frankfurt, Max Eberl made no secret that Boey would have been sold should he had received an interesting offer. 

“We would have considered it if something had happened,” said Eberl. Now, in the absence of Josip Stanišić, Boey has made the right-back position his own. Although this was certainly aided by Alphonso Davies’s injury which has led to Konrad Laimer switching to left-back. While Boey is some way off the €30m valuation Bayern paid Galatasaray in January 2024, the French defender is on an upwards trajectory.

The 25-year-old has featured in every Bundesliga game this season (three substitute appearances in the opening three games) and is finally repaying Kompany and the faith the Belgian has shown in him.

GGFN | Daniel Pinder

The DFB confirmed that the 23-year-old would not be joining his teammates on Monday at the national team’s headquarters in Herzogenaurach due to a flu infection.

Woltemade has made Julian Nagelsmann’s last two squads, and has started in each of his four games against Portugal, France, Slovakia and Northern Ireland, but the former Werder Bremen and Stuttgart forward is still awaiting his maiden goal for the German national team.

Julian Nagelsmann’s Germany Squad

Goalkeepers: Oliver Baumann, Alexander Nübel, Finn Dahmen 

Defenders: Waldemar Anton, Ridle Baku, Nathanial Brown, Robin Koch, David Raum, Nico Schlotterbeck, Jonathan Tah 

Midfields: Karim Adeyemi, Nadiem Amiri, Robert Andrich, Serge Gnabry, Leon Goretzka, Joshua Kimmich, Jamie Leweling, Felix Nmecha, Angelo Stiller, Florian Wirtz 

Forwards: Maximilian Beier, Jonathan Burkardt, Nick Woltemade

GGFN | Daniel Pinder

Speaking exclusively to Kicker, Mislintat looked back on his time at the north London club.

“When I was at Arsenal, the billions hadn’t been invested there like in previous years. Nevertheless, the team we put together reached the Europa League final and later won the cup. What changed a lot for me was that Arsène Wenger and the then CEO Ivan Gazidis, who had brought me in, left London within a short space of time. Arsène stepped down as manager eight months after my arrival, and Ivan accepted an offer from Milan shortly afterwards. A completely new structure was formed and on top of that, England was facing Brexit. I could have stayed but as a family, we decided not to take the risk of a complete move with the children under those circumstances and to see what opportunities might arise in Germany.”

GGFN | Daniel Pinder

A move to Arsenal beckoned before spells at Stuttgart and Ajax preceded a return to Dortmund in May 2024. But Mislintat’s return to his boyhood club didn’t go as planned with Sportschau claiming that Mislintat’s career ‘has been marked by conflicts’.

Borussia Dortmund’s Power Struggle

During his second spell at the club, Mislintat and Sebastian Kehl were at the centre of a power struggle, resulting in the pair not getting on.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Kicker, the 52-year-old was asked whether or not it was a mistake to sign with Dortmund for a second time.

“I was born in Dortmund. BVB was, is, and will remain my club. I owe BVB an incredible amount, especially for the trust Michael Zorc and Jürgen Klopp placed in me. When I was offered the opportunity to return to Dortmund and sign a long-term contract after my time at Ajax, I considered it an honour and gladly accepted. I was convinced that I would be able to contribute positively to the club after all the experiences I had gained, both positive and negative, at home and abroad since my move in 2017. I was looking forward to working with Matthias Sammer, who also had confidence in me from a very early stage and with Edin Terzic, whom I greatly respect both professionally and personally. I also saw many old faces and friends from my first eleven years at BVB.”

Mislintat was questioned by Kicker journalists Matthias Dersch and Thomas Hennecke about Sportschau’s choice of wording, which suggests that the public’s impression of the former BVB employee is one that asks for trouble.

“I agree with you, that’s how it reads. And I admit that I would prefer other headlines. But I can’t change it. What I can say, however, is: talk to the people I’ve worked with over the last 20 years and who know me well. The direct feedback from the fans is also different. A small example: shortly after I was released from BVB, the home game against Stuttgart was scheduled. I had long in advance bought tickets for friends of ours from Stuttgart, who then stayed overnight with us. I didn’t go the stadium myself, but I drove them there and then stayed in the city, watching the game in a cafe. Not a single fan, whether Stuttgart or Dortmund, insulted me or even gave me a strange look.”

GGFN | Daniel Pinder

Die Schwaben are the second Baden-Württemberg outfit Basel have faced in as many games so far in this competition, with the Swiss side having been beaten 2-1 by Freiburg last time out.

Despite being favourites for this game, Hoeneß’s side got off to a terrible start. Angelo Stiller gave the ball away on the edge of Stuttgart’s own third. He seemed to get away with it, but after recovering the ball, Badredine Bouanani put it on a plate for Albian Ajeti to tuck past Alexander Nübel. 

Ermedin Demirović squandered a golden chance for a leveller. The Bosnia and Herzegovina international found himself unmarked at the edge of the six-yard box but placed his header over the crossbar. 

Demirović would get another chance to level the game with a penalty after Tiago Tomás was fouled in the Basel box. However, thanks to VAR, Demirović was made to wait an age after setting up to take the spot-kick—never ideal for the taker—and Marwin Hitz made saving the Bosnian’s effort look easy. 

Stuttgart huffed and puffed for the majority of the second half with little success. Basel broke away late in the game and Xherdan Shaqiri looped the ball over Alexander Nübel into the net, wrapping up the points for the Swiss side. 

Lack of cohesion

It’s easy to forget that little more than two years ago, Stuttgart found themselves in the relegation play-off against Hamburg. They have achieved so much since: a remarkable second-place finish in the Bundesliga the following season, and a DFB-Pokal win in the last. Yet despite this success, Hoeneß’s team still has a very fresh look. 

With some notable absentees—including Chris Führich, Jeff Chabot, and Atakan Karazor—filling up Stuttgart’s bench in this game, only four players who started against Basel also started the Pokal final in May. 

Desperate football

Basel did very well to limit VfB to very little going forward besides the penalty. Stuttgart grew frustrated throughout the game, resorting to shots from distance and route one balls up to Demirović. 

Stuttgart racked up an astounding 29 attempts, but Hitz stood firm, and their growing desperation was plain to see. 

Hoeneß made a double change on 70 minutes, bringing on Führich and Bilal El Khannouss for a thwarted and tiring Jamie Leweling and Chema Andrés. Neither player would have the desired effect on the game before Shaqiri sealed the win for Basel. 

Post Woltemade Stuttgart

It has been intriguing to watch how Stuttgart have adapted following the sale of Nick Woltemade to Newcastle. The injury to Deniz Undav has undoubtedly not helped either. Demirović has made a decent start to the season, with three goals and an assist in the first five Bundesliga matches. 

However, on nights like this—when the Bosnian wasn’t firing on all cylinders—Stuttgart needed another source of attacking impetus. Despite dominating possession, Leweling was also kept quiet by the resolute Basel backline. Führich fared no better when he was introduced with the score still at 1-0. 

Thankfully for Hoeneß, Undav’s return is in sight. 

GGFN | Harry Good

Daniel Svensson opened the scoring before Carney Chukwuemaka doubled BVB’s lead in the 50th minute, but a prolonged spell of pressure from the Basque club resulted in Gorka Guruzeta bringing the visitors to within one of Dortmund before Robert Navarro had a goal ruled out for offside, and then fired a shot narrowly over the crossbar.

Speaking to DAZN after the game, Kovač discussed Dortmund’s performance and the importance of making changes with games every three days, and the upcoming international break.

“We controlled the game in the first half. In the second half, we were a bit too passive, gave the ball away too quickly, and wobbled a bit. Then you need goals like that, which normally never go in,” said Kovač. “Serhou (Guirassy) is credited with the goal, and that’s fine. You need luck in the Champions League too.”

On the squad depth and changes, the Croat added: “We have really good depth in the squad, and you need that if you have to play every three days. That is why it is a good thing that we made some changes today. Incidentally: Bilbao made six changes. That is part of football today. Now we still have Leipzig, then it’s all about the national teams.

“You have to make changes. Schlotti (Nico Schlotterbeck) is coming back after five and a half months. The danger of him running into a muscular injury was just too great after two 90-minute games.”

GGFN | Daniel Pinder

Bilbao were without star man Nico Williams for the meeting in the Ruhrgebiet — news
that was surely welcomed by Niko Kovač.

Daniel Svensson opened the scoring after a low cross from Karim Adeyemi, almost
exactly mirroring the Swede’s goal at the Mewa Arena on Saturday.

Carney Chukwuemeka doubled the lead five minutes after the interval with an astute
finish past Unai Simón. However, the breathing space did not last long, as a mix-up at
the back between Waldemar Anton and Niklas Süle gifted Gorka Guruzeta an easy
opportunity to pull one back for the Spaniards.

BVB restored their cushion with eight minutes left through a massive stroke of luck.
Marcel Sabitzer tried his luck from 20 yards, and the ball deflected off Serhou Guirassy,
wrong-footing Simón in the Bilbao goal. A fourth and final Dortmund strike came in
stoppage time courtesy of Julian Brandt.

Wingbacks growing influence

The influence of Dortmund’s wingbacks so far this season has been clear for all to see,
whether it’s Daniel Svensson on the left or the combination of Julian Ryerson and Yan
Couto on the right.

Svensson grabbed his second goal in as many games, while Ryerson continued to
provide a constant threat on the opposite flank.

Kovač’s wingbacks are adding an extra dimension in attack — especially valuable on a
night like this, when Adeyemi and Guirassy weren’t at their best.

Defensive solidity

Allowing the wingbacks to the freedom to go forward as much as they do has been down
to Dortmund’s solidity at the back.

Despite not securing the sixth clean sheet of the season that Gregor Kobel would have
wanted, BVB once again limited their opponents to very few chances.

Bilbao rallied after halving the deficit — capitalising on a rare mistake from Dortmund’s
backline — but the hosts held firm thereafter. A textbook oƯside trap also denied Bilbao
an equaliser.

Strength in depth

Despite making five changes from the starting 11 in their Bundesliga victory over Mainz,
Dortmund showcased their depth and experience on the big stage.

Carney Chukwuemeka underlined his quality by scoring BVB’s second goal of the game,
staking his claim for more regular minutes.

Niklas Süle, Julian Ryerson, and Jobe Bellingham all returned to the lineup, while
Guirassy’s return from injury added further firepower.

GGFN | Harry Good