£7m ace 'will go to Dortmund' and West Ham may have Southampton to blame

The last time West Ham United and Borussia Dortmund found themselves at the heart of a transfer saga, it ended with Niclas Fullkrug moving to the Premier League on a £27 million deal.

Three goals in 27 games later, Fullkrug will forever be a stain on Tim Steidten’s legacy. Behold, the folly of signing an already 31-year-old striker on a four-year contract. A striker who, even by his own admission, never had the physical qualities to thrive in the hustle and bombastic bustle of English football.

If Fullkrug summed up West Ham United’s old way of doing business – big-money punts on short-term quick fixes – then Marcel Regula epitomises the new direction of travel under Nils Koppen.

Hammers News reported a few weeks ago that Koppen was keen to make Regula his first January signing at the London Stadium. Director of Player Recruitment Koppen is a master when it comes to unearthing rough diamonds, and it seems the Belgian has found one in Zaglebie Lubin’s 19-year-old Poland international.

Unfortunately for Koppen, he is not the only one charmed by Regula’s maverick talents.

The aforementioned Borussia Dortmund are planning for Regula to follow in the footsteps of Jude Bellingham, Erling Haaland, Marco Reus and Jadon Sancho; another up-and-coming talent to enrol in one of football’s finest finishing schools.

While Regula rejected a move to West Ham’s Championship rivals Burnley over the summer, he was also extremely close to joining the Bundesliga giants before the September deadline. All the latest signs suggest that Dortmund will pick up where they left off and get a deal done in early-2027, despite Koppen’s best efforts.

Polish reporter Rafal Gikiewicz, speaking on Sportowe Fakty, believes that the Signal Iduna Park is very likely to be Regula’s destination. But on one condition. Dortmund must first find a buyer for young centre-half Luca Reggiani.

“Regula will go to Borussia Dortmund in the winter transfer window – if Reggiani is sold,” Gikiewicz says. “If Dortmund don’t sell Reggiani, Regula won’t be there. [But] there is a desire from Regula, there is a desire from Zaglebie, there is a desire from Dortmund.”

The good news from a Dortmund perspective is that selling Reggiani should be pretty straightforward. AC Milan have been credited with an interest in the one-time Italy international. BILD report that Southampton are still keen on 18-year-old Reggiani too, having made an approach for the teenager late last summer.

West Ham will face Tonda Eckert’s Saints at the London Stadium on October 24th. Southampton will be aiming to put a dent in their rivals’ promotion ambitions then, before potentially scuppering West Ham’s hopes of snatching Regula from under Dortmund’s nose.

Hammers News recently revealed that 20-year-old enforcer Tobias Moi, a former teammate of Edvin Austbo’s at Viking FK, is another name under consideration. Moi stepped off the bench late on as Viking played out a 3-3 Champions League draw with Bayern Munich on Tuesday in Norway.