By Rune Gjerulff@runegjerulff

Report: Dortmund turned down Xhaka and Boniface

Borussia Dortmund reportedly turned down the chance to sign Bayer Leverkusen stars Granit Xhaka and Victor Boniface in the past.
Bayer Leverkusen have made an impressive start to the season, with summer signings Alejandro Grimaldo, Granit Xhaka, Jonas Hofmann and Victor Boniface all hitting the ground running.

According to Sport Bild, two of those players - Granit Xhaka and Victor Boniface - were offered to Borussia Dortmund in the past, but the Black and Yellows decided against signing either of them.

At least with the latter, however, the timing was not ideal. According to the report, Boniface emerged as an option for Dortmund last spring, but with Sebastien Haller in great form at the time, the club didn't consider bringing in another striker.

That situation changed in the summer, but by the time Dortmund realized they needed to strengthen up front, Boniface was already under contract with Leverkusen, and BVB ended up signing Niclas Füllkrug from Werder Bremen instead.

Meanwhile, Felix Nmecha and Marcel Sabitzer were brought in to strengthen Dortmund's central midfield rather than Xhaka, who was reportedly deemed too expensive by the Black and Yellows.

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