Borussia Mönchengladbach, a Bundesliga football club, has expressed interest in signing Brandon Vazquez, the FC Cincinnati striker. Vazquez, who is just 24-years old, has been scouted by the Gladbach sporting director, Roland Virkus, during the international break in the United States. Vazquez scored the winning goal for the US national team against Nashville SC. Gladbach is currently in search of a replacement for French national team striker Marcus Thuram, whose contract expires at the end of the season, and is expected to join another club. Vazquez, who is under contract until 2025, has seen his market value skyrocket from €500,000 to €7m in 2022, after he scored 20 goals and eight assists in 37 games across all competitions last year. Vazquez is known to be one of the most in-demand forwards currently playing in the Major League Soccer (MLS). He formed one of the most productive attacking duos in 2022 along with Brazilian striker Brenner, whom Vazquez will play alongside in FC Cincinnati.
Gladbach will not be the only team pursuing Vazquez, as he is one of the most valuable US-eligible players on the planet. Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, and Schalke, who have recently taken an interest in the US market, may attempt to sign Vazquez if he continues to perform well this season.
It is unclear what Vazquez could offer Gladbach at this point in his career. Replacing Thuram, who helped his team finish second in the 2018 World Cup, will be a challenging task for any striker. However, when comparing Vazquez and Thuram on Wyscout, it was revealed that both have scored a similar number of goals per 90 minutes, with Vazquez having a slightly better goal conversion rate. However, Thuram has been the better dribbler, with better number of touches per box, in the top European leagues. Vazquez is a typical box striker, while Thuram is more of an inverted winger turned no.9. Nevertheless, Vazquez could be the missing piece in Gladbach’s rebuilding efforts, as the club is currently under a new head coach, Daniel Farke.
However, Gladbach will have a difficult time convincing Cincinnati to part ways with Vazquez. Brenner’s transfer talks this year highlighted just how difficult Cincinnati can be to negotiate with. The MLS club may demand a transfer fee that exceeds Vazquez’s €7m market value, and Vazquez himself will be in high demand should he be productive in the MLS this season.
In conclusion, Vazquez’s move to Gladbach would be consequential, but it is unknown in what capacity he will be able to fill the void left by Thuram. Cincinnati’s notorious difficulty as a negotiation partner will likely make Gladbach’s task even more challenging. However, Gladbach may still be able to pull off the deal if they are willing to offer a substantial transfer fee to Cincinnati.
