Dortmund Targeting Hector Fort Amid Transfer Talks
Borussia Dortmund are moving to the front of the queue for Hector Fort – and this time it looks serious.
Spanish transfer specialist Matteo Moretto now has BVB in “pole position” for the Barcelona right-back, a sharp shift from only a few days ago when he described their interest as merely general during a Radio Marca appearance. The tone has changed. So has the pace of the talks.
Dortmund push ahead for Fort
Fort, 20, has drawn admiring glances from the Premier League and elsewhere, but Dortmund currently lead the chase and have already held initial discussions. The plan is clear: in North Rhine-Westphalia, the young Spaniard would effectively step into the role vacated by Yan Couto.
Couto has joined Como 1907 on loan, with the Italian surprise package securing a €20 million option to buy the Brazilian. That departure has left Niko Kovac with a thin deck on the right side of his defence.
Right now, Julian Ryerson is the only natural right-back in the squad. Waldemar Anton, Filippo Mane and left-back Daniel Svensson can all shuffle across in an emergency, yet none is a specialist in that role. If Kovac sticks with his preferred back three or back five, the need for a dynamic, reliable right-sided defender only grows louder.
Fort ticks the profile. The question is the price.
The numbers behind a Fort deal
Barcelona’s demands set the framework. A straight transfer is expected to land at around €20 million. There is, however, another possible route: a deal closer to €10 million, but tied to a hefty 50% sell-on clause for the Blaugrana.
A loan with an option to buy also remains on the table. Dortmund are exploring the full menu.
Even so, a permanent move looks far from unrealistic. The collapse of the Said El Mala transfer has changed the financial picture. The €50 million that had been earmarked for that deal can now be redistributed to strengthen the squad in several areas.
Giannis Konstantelias of PAOK Saloniki has emerged as the leading alternative to the 1. FC Köln attacker El Mala, with the Greek playmaker reportedly available for around €25 million. If BVB decide to move for Konstantelias, they would still have enough room in the budget to push hard for Fort.
The money is there. The strategy is taking shape.
A big bet on a small sample
The sporting risk is obvious. Fort remains largely untested at the highest level.
He has only had brief appearances in the Barcelona first team and spent last season on loan at Elche CF. Even in a weaker competitive environment, he never truly imposed himself across the campaign.
The raw numbers underline that. Just over 600 minutes, spread across 17 appearances. Three goals and two assists in that time hint at attacking potential, yet it is still a small sample size for a club of Dortmund’s ambitions.
This is not a finished product. It is a project.
Dortmund, though, have built much of their recent identity on exactly that kind of gamble: identifying talent just before the wider market fully wakes up to it. With the right-back position exposed and cash unexpectedly freed up, the next question is simple – do they trust their instincts enough to let Hector Fort be the next one?
