Contract poker at BVB
Schlotterbeck announces an imminent decision for the future
April 4, 2026 – 10:16 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
Nico Schlotterbeck wants to clarify his contract poker with BVB this week. The DFB star also explains why he recently commented publicly on the negotiations.
After the 2-0 win at VfB Stuttgart on Saturday, BVB central defender Nico Schlotterbeck promised an early decision in the contract poker with Borussia Dortmund. The 26-year-old wants to have further discussions with sports director Ole Book and sports boss Lars Ricken this week.
Schlotterbeck said on Sky after the game: “I had a good conversation with Lars and Ole. We’ll continue the discussions this week. Then I don’t think it will be long before I make a decision.” He could “of course imagine staying here. Nevertheless, all discussions have to work and we hope that we can have good ones this week.”
A statement by the national player after the international match against Ghana had previously raised eyebrows. Schlotterbeck now explained in relation to this: “I was very surprised and just wanted to defend myself. I wanted to make that clear because of course it was a lot against me personally. If a medium writes that I’m signing this week and then I don’t sign, I look stupid too. I can’t really please anyone.”
The central defender explained: “I just wanted to hear Ole’s point of view on how he approached it. That’s why I wanted to revise what was in the media.” He knew “that there would be headwinds, including against me personally. That’s the football business. That wasn’t meant in a bad way towards you (the journalists, editor’s note) and the BVB fans.”
BVB sports director Ole Book also commented on the first conversation. He said: “We presented Lars and I’s ideas for the future. He seemed very open and interested. The conversation was fun. That’s part of the whole thing that we’ve tackled now. We’ll see everything else in the next few weeks.” Book did not perceive Schlotterbeck’s clarification as criticism of the club, me or anyone else. The new sports director added that they “tried to speak very substantively” in the conversation.
