Just how much movement there is at Borussia Dortmund can already be seen in the lobby of the team hotel. The 5-star hostel Don Pepe Gran Melia on the coast of Marbella (Spain) was transformed into a football dating site for a week during the BVB training camp.
The stars rushed between sessions from one meeting to the next. Staff members almost always walked the corridors and stairs with their laptops under their arms. Above all, player advisors romped around in the spacious reception area and on the terrace, either on the phone or in intensive conversations – also with their main contact person, BVB sports director Sebastian Kehl (42).
It’s clear: Borussia is facing far-reaching changes. In terms of sport, the current sixth place in the table shakes the minimum goal of the Champions League. Eight player contracts expire in the summer, including those of club faces Marco Reus (33) and Mats Hummels (34). A total of 13 players, i.e. half the professional squad, could be gone after the season.
Does BVB break up?
“The situation is delicate, but also a great opportunity,” says Bundesliga expert Dietmar Hamann (49): “The next six months will show the direction in which Borussia Dortmund will develop over the next three to four years.”
SPORT BILD explains how BVB is planning its future and why there is no clarity in many areas.
The overarching goal is clearly defined: the club wants to cement second place in the long term and be able to win titles. To this end, Kehl and Managing Director Hans-Joachim Watzke (63) want to develop a new culture of performance and promote a change in image.
In the future, only those who pay back on the pitch should earn well. This is how Hamann put it: “BVB has to build a new image. With players who don’t just play for the money, but are willing to work for success and work their ass off for the fans every week. A lot of negotiating skills and smart recruiting are required. Kehl does not have an easy job, but he is a very bright young man.”
The expiring contracts of Reus, Hummels, Mahmoud Dahoud (27), Anthony Modeste (34), Raphaël Guerreiro (29), Felix Passlack (24) and Luca Unbehaun (21) offer Kehl the opportunity to earn around 45 million euros in annual salary to save or to distribute in a more performance-oriented manner. Youssoufa Moukoko (18) remains an expensive exception – BVB has to invest in him because he promises goals and a high transfer fee if he changes later. Kehl has been haggling with consultant Patrick Williams (44) for weeks about the more than 40 million euro package of salary, earnest money, commission and special payments. According to SPORT BILD information, it is already clear that Modeste, Guerreiro and Passlack will not get a new contract.
BVB captain Reus is in a strong negotiating position due to numerous other interested parties
Photo: David Indian song/dpa
BVB is waiting for decisions on the other stars. The club has postponed the concrete negotiations with Dahoud until after the training camp. Both sides want to extend, but BVB wants to reduce its lavish salary of around eight million to a lower basic amount with high bonuses. The fronts are hardened between club face Reus and BVB. The captain is upset about the late contact of the bosses, after ten and a half years as a top performer he misses a clear declaration of trust. BVB is going into the talks with an open mind and wants to reduce its record salary of an estimated twelve million to a significantly lower base salary. However, poker is also associated with risks for BVB: In addition to its sporting value, it is extremely important, just like Hummels, when it comes to working with marketing, the media and sponsors, and it also has lucrative offers abroad, such as from Ronaldo Club Al-Nassr (Saudi Arabia) in the hindquarters.
00:43
Warm-up video goes viral!
That Messi touch is out of this world
What: instagram: @433
Three things are currently blocking BVB planning: superstar Jude Bellingham (19) has not yet given the management a reliable signal as to whether he is aiming to move to a top club next summer. Kehl could finance the summer upheaval with the up to 150 million euros that Dortmund will demand from interested parties such as Liverpool or Real Madrid. And even save taxes if he reinvests the transfer fee in the squad in the same financial year. Hamann says: “It’s important to get clarity quickly and to know what he wants to do. But things could certainly be worse: you have a player in the squad who probably has the highest market value right behind Mbappé. If it’s in the hundreds of millions, I’m inclined to say you have to sell it.”
Another 13 contracts expire in 2024, including those of the strike candidates Nico Schulz (29), Emre Can (29) and Thorgan Hazard (29), which burden the salary budget with up to 20 million euros annually. The club would like to get rid of them earlier, but there is hardly a market. Hamann tough: “What happened in Dortmund in the last few years was Schalke and HSV at a high level: They brought in too many players who did too little but earned far too much.”
Lots to do: Sports Director Sebastian Kehl had many discussions with advisors during the training camp
Photo: David Indian song/dpa
A full-back for both sides continues to be a transfer priority for the summer – Gladbach’s Ramy Bensebaini (27) is a hot topic on the left, and Fenerbahçe’s Ferdi Kadioglu (23) on the right – and a robust clearer for defensive midfield.
The third and most serious planning uncertainty: The Champions League qualification is in acute danger – and the usual income is therefore unsecured. In the training camp, coach Edin Terzic (40) turned the team inside out for the planned race to catch up, which is scheduled to begin next Sunday (3:30 p.m.) against Augsburg. He even changed his own habits for it.
00:36
Siiiuuuper cute!!!
CR7 with flash of laughter after action by Superstar son
What: instagram: @433
After the catastrophic record of 21 goals in 15 league games, defensive security is a priority for Terzic. In training, he therefore repeatedly simulated game situations in order to study the duel behavior after losing the ball. Only Leverkusen (10) conceded more than BVB’s seven goals after losing the ball. Unusual: Terzic, who likes to let units run through, interrupted training much more often than usual to address mistakes. Frequently and at all times of the day, the coach gathered his team in the meeting room on the first floor of the team hotel, addressed mistakes, but also repeatedly showed successful scenes from the first half of the season on the screen.
Terzic often left communication to his new assistant coach Armin Reutershahn (62), successor to the sick Peter Hermann (70). Adi Hütter’s (52) ex-assistant was spokesman in the team circle. Terzic also let Reutershahn take over for the internal analyzes and the strategy development of standard situations. Three standard goals were the fewest in the league next to Hoffenheim. Despite the league record of a hundred corners kicked, BVB only scored one.
Sébastien Haller (28), who scored one of his three goals in the 6-0 test against Basel with a corner from the outside of his foot, should also change that.
Dortmund’s transformation has begun in all areas. The second half of the season becomes the decisive phase.
