When Jakub Blaszczykowski left Borussia Dortmund on loan on the last day of the summer transfer window, there was an air of melancholy around Signal Iduna Park. The 29-year-old was Dortmund's second-longest-serving player after longtime club captain Sebastian Kehl hung up his boots at the end of the 2014/15 season.The Poland international played a total of 253 matches in all competitions for the Black and Yellows after making the move from Wisla Krakow in 2007. Not a single one of those 253 appearances, however, was under Dortmund's new head coach Thomas Tuchel. Muscle problems kept Blaszczykowski out of the club's promotional trip to Asia early in July, and even in the training camp in Switzerland, the Pole was only able to jog for the most part, perKicker.Kuba, as the fans lovingly call the man whose last name has to be some sort of cheat code for Scrabble, wasn't selected for a single competitive match under Tuchel. The writing was firmly on the wall and Fiorentina pounced.It's only fittingKuba's renaissance is happening in Florence, of all cities.After playing in only 29 league matches for Dortmund in the last two seasonshe tore his anterior cruciate ligament on the first matchday of the second half of the 2013/14 seasonin January 2014 and was out for nine monthsthe Pole is now an integral part of a Fiorentina side that is taking Serie A by storm.Under new head coach Paulo Sousa, a Champions League winner with Dortmund in 1997, La Viola seems like a genuine title contender in what is shaping up to be one of the most interesting fights for the Scudetto in a long time, detailed by Ivan Palumbo of La Gazzetta Dello Sport.Blaszczykowski was rated as the best signing of the summer byLa Gazzetta Dello Sportearly in October. He has quickly becomea regular starter on the right wing for the Tuscans, having played in seven league and three Europa League games until a problem with his foot kept him out of the game at Sampdoria on November 8, perFantagazzetta.The 29-year-old, never a prolific scorer for Dortmund, has found the net once in his 10 games for Fiorentina, as his thunderous shot opened the scoring against Bolognaon his full Serie A debut for the club.Speakingto Jochen Tittmar of Spox.com, Kuba praised his new manager for believing in him, saying this kind of validation is what he was looking for after leaving Dortmund.His former club, who reportedly got a loan fee of 1 million for the player, according toBild, basically replaced Blaszczykowski with Adnan Januzaj. With the latter struggling to make his mark so far, one does wonder whether the same decision would be made again if Dortmund were given the chance of a do-over.The former Poland captain told Spox, in a roundabout way,that he would have preferred to stay at Dortmund, saying he isn't the kind of guy who fears competition, rather one who fights for his spot. He called his transfer the result of a decision in principle.While many of the Westfalenstadion faithful would love to see the fan favouritereturn to Dortmund at the succession of this season, that seems more than unlikely.For starters, it was obvious from their short time together that Tuchel doesn't rate the Pole's fit with the style of football he prefers. In Dortmund's new possession-oriented system, the wingers are not required to provide width and cross the ball into the penaltyboxthat job is reserved for the full-backs.Dortmund's wingers focus much more on half-spaces and are generally inclined to move inside to generate a threat on goal.Blaszczykowski is more of a traditional winger, which is why he was surplus to Tuchel's requirements.Most importantly, however, Fiorentina have the option to buy the 29-year-old next yearfor a rather modest 6 million, according to La Repubblica. Blaszczykowski himself told Spoxhe expects La Viola to exercise that option.LarsPollmannis a featured columnist writing onBorussiaDortmund.He also writes forYellowwallpod.com. You can follow him onTwitter.
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