Why Ciro Immobile Is the Dortmund Player to Watch in Internationals This Week

With international fixtures of importance and simple friendly exercises taking precedence over domestic football this week, Borussia Dortmund will turn their attention towards a number of their own players who will be taking part in a number of games over the next week. 

Yet aside from the more obvious options—such as Marco Reus at Germany, Sokratis Papastathopoulos at Greece or Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang at Gabon—one player worth keeping an eye on will be Ciro Immobile, who has been called up by the Italian national team to face Bulgaria and then England. 

As a relatively unknown quantity in Dortmund at the moment, Immobile has had trouble fitting into the squad and, therefore, showing what he can offer the team. 

What, of course, stands as an opportunity for the young striker is a chance to offer his services to a team of players who know exactly how to get the best out of him. Although Immobile's time at Dortmund hasn't exactly gone according to plan this season, the former Juventus product still has a formidable record in the Serie A and a number of fans in his own country. 

For perhaps the first time this season, Immobile will be part of a squad that knows his style of play, his history as a player and—literally—what he's talking about. 

Returning to the Azzurri will offer some fresh perspective for the forward and perhaps a much-needed shot in the arm to his confidence as the competent goalscorer that he was when he arrived in Germany last summer. 

Immobile may well feature against Bulgaria on Saturday in a match that should offer a brilliant opportunity for the striker to get back amongst the goals and once again regain some form that could see Jurgen Klopp reconsider his position in the squad. 

After that, Italy take on the might of England in a glamour friendly at the Juventus Stadium next Tuesday in perhaps a tougher and more appropriate test for the Dortmund striker. 

Most likely a friendly in name only, this fixture will surely be the one that could really turn some heads back in Germany should Immobile get the better of Joe Hart or Fraser Forster, and the defence before them. Here will lie Immobile's stage, set for him to himself be the main attraction. 

The truth is that Immobile hasn't exactly been a poor player for Dortmund this season. For much of this current campaign, he has found himself crammed into Robert Lewandowski or Aubameyang-shaped holes in the side, meaning he's often asked to chase down long balls or to pull a long ball out of the sky, rather than finish a cross or indeed poach the opposition goal. 

As much as Immobile has missed key opportunities in front of goal this season, he hasn't been properly represented at the Westfalenstadion and, as such, now stands to gain from any opportunity to play either against Bulgaria or England. 

Should the Italian striker start for his country in either fixture and do well, Dortmund fans and their manager alike would be reminded of his talents before he arrived to play in the Bundesliga. Immobile is a good player, and he may well show it this week. 

@Sbienkowski