Dortmund have made a surprise change to their defensive pecking order
Borussia Dortmund’s emerging Italian prospect Luca Reggiani is in a bit of a soup. In the club’s internal rankings of defensive players, he’s reportedly fallen behind his compatriot Filippo Mane in the pecking order.
German digital media Funke Sport revealed that while Reggiani is crucial to build-up plays, Mane outshines him in duels and that gives him the edge over the 18-year-old, who looked set for bigger things in 2026-27 season.
After eight years at Sassuolo, Reggiani joined Dortmund’s youth side in 2024 where he was a part of the BVB squad that won the UEFA Youth League. His promising displays soon caught Niko Kovac’s attention and the Dortmund manager handed him his senior debut in February this year.
A commanding presence in defense with excellent ball-control and maturity that belies his age, Reggiani especially garnered plaudits for helping Dortmund keep a clean sheet against Atalanta in the UEFA Champions League and finished the campaign with nine appearances in total.
It also helped him break into Italy’s national team set-up with former interim manager Silvio Baldini calling him up to their June friendlies this year where Reggiani made his debut in a match against Greece on 7 June 2026.
Now in the preseason, Reggiani has looked solid in their last two games against FC Tokyo and Arsenal with the Italian starting on both occasions. He made eight defensive contributions in the first one while dispatching his penalty in the shootouts against the Premier League champions.
Yet, it’s Mane’s defensive qualities that seem to have impressed the club’s management more. He completed full 90 minutes of the Emirates Cup game on Sunday and displayed excellent reading of the game to make five interceptions, one clearance and one block, while also making an incredible seven recoveries.
For a player who struggled with a series of injuries last season, this has been a massive turnaround. Head coach Niko Kovac even reserved special praise for Mane recently:
“”Filippo is making progress. That’s down to his hard work. We’ve adjusted things; we know what problems he’s had. We’ve improved that over the past weeks and months. If he stays this healthy, he’ll certainly be a good player for us.””
Going by the latest developments, Mane leaping ahead in the pecking order would naturally have implications for Reggiani, who may be forced to play with the reserve team in the Regionalliga or perhaps, seek a loan move away from Dortmund. Translate to garman
