BVB goalkeeping prospect Lotka signs early contract extension

Borussia Dortmund confirmed an early one-year contract extension for keeper Marcel Lotka on Thursday. 

Former Hertha BSC starting keeper Marcel Lotka, after joining Borussia Dortmund following a prolonged transfer dispute last summer, still hasn’t made an appearance for the BVB first-team. The 21-year-old has nevertheless retained his starting role for BVB II in the 3. Bundesliga. After 24 starts in the third division this season and five call-up to the senior side’s bench squad this year, the Duisburg native has earned a new contract.

Lotka is, in the cumulative grades assigned by Germany’s preeminent footballing publication, the second-best keeper in the third professional footballing flight. Only Saarbrücken’s Daniel Batz has higher average matchday grades in the Kicker rankings. Lotka has kept nine clean sheets this season.

“We were immediately convinced that we had found in Marcel not only a talented young goalkeeper, but also an ambitious and hard-working team player,” Dortmund U23 personnel boss Iago Preuß remarked in a statement accompanying the news, “He has confirmed all these assessments in his first year at BVB, where he has developed into one of the best players at his position in the third division.”

“My move from Hertha to Dortmund proved to be the right one from day one,” the player himself added, “At BVB, I feel the trust and support of the coaching team, my teammates and all the staff. I try to give back this positive energy in every training session and every game, and I’m full of anticipation to continue learning and developing my game here.”

Lotus’s existing contract, initially good through the end of next season, now runs through 2025. The Polish youth international already has 10 top flight appearances to his credit, starting all but one of Hertha’s final ten games in last year’s relegation race. Lotka retains an estimated market worth of €1.3 million in the latest transfermarkt listings.

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