The squad restructuring at Borussia Dortmund is getting closer – and could lead to a farewell for a whole quintet of current and former DFB players.
BVB still has five games ahead of them, but hardly anyone in Dortmund is interested in them. The season is over, at least second place in the Bundesliga and therefore almost certain to qualify again for the Champions League – Borussia is long out of the other competitions.
Participation in the DFB Cup as well as in the Champions and later the Europa League ended with an embarrassing elimination. And since then, fans, experts and club officials have only been discussing one thing: the squad for the coming season.
How big does the upheaval have to be for Borussia Dortmund to be successful again?
Coach Marco Rose should stay, striker Erling Haaland will probably go, Bayern player Niklas Süle has already been announced. But much more is to happen.
“Sport Bild” recently reported that with Emre Can, Julian Brandt and Nico Schulz three current or former German national players are on the cross-off list and, if necessary, should be sold for significantly less money than they once cost – just to save on the high salaries.
Brandt has been criticized even though he scored twice in the 2-0 win at VfB Stuttgart on Friday and, with seven goals this season, has already scored more than in the past two seasons combined. In addition to the trio Can, Brandt and Schulz is also behind a whereabouts of Captain Marco Reus and his representative Mats Hummels another question mark.
The contracts of the BVB legends end in 2023, they are among the top earners, but are clearly getting on in years. TV expert Lothar Matthäus recently said on Sky in relation to the two: “Maybe a new adventure isn’t the worst idea.” Hummels has now also injured himself and will be out for several weeks.
This begs the question:
Does BVB have to part with a DFB quintet to win titles again?
Yes, Dortmund now needs five new national players
The Pro by Florian Wichert, Deputy Editor-in-Chief
BVB will have a decade of disappointments at the end of this season. Only two successes in the cup, no championship, no triumph in Europe – and the current season is even characterized by embarrassing clapping. Ten years that are closely linked to the names Reus and Hummels. Both have undoubtedly done a great deal for the club. Despite this, it is obvious that their time is now running out. Aged 32 and 33 respectively, they are injury-prone but still big earners.
Dortmund now needs a real restart and should urgently get the two of them off the payroll – just like Schulz, Can and Brandt. In three years, Schulz has not even made it into a regular player at times. Can primarily stood out as an element of uncertainty. The biggest disappointment is Brandt, who at 25 has still not progressed beyond the status of a talent and only sporadically knows what to do with his skills.
If BVB finds buyers for all five, it saves around 40 million euros in salary per year – and can invest in a new DFB quintet together with the Haaland fee. With Süle, Salzburg’s Adeyemi and Schlotterbeck from Freiburg, Raum from Hoffenheim and Werner from Chelsea, a new start should not only succeed, it should also herald a decade with significantly more titles.
No, Dortmund shouldn’t make a too radical cut
The contra of Melanie Muschong, Editor Sport
Borussia has not lived up to expectations, no question. There will be no titles again in 2022. Giving up five experienced players with Hummels, Reus, Can, Brandt and Schulz would be fatal. Especially since all-rounder Witsel is almost gone and Haaland will almost certainly leave the club. Acting as if the club had been relegated will certainly not lead to the titles hoped for.
Better: rebuild selectively. Schulz and Can are not top performers and could use a restart. Just like Hummels, who is now injured again. With Süle, BVB has already provided a replacement.
Reus should remain as captain, give new players security. The club needs him as a figure of identification. Putting Brandt on the cross-off list would also be activism. He scored two goals against Stuttgart. Coach Rose said: “He did what I demand of him even more.” So he should continue to challenge him. After all, Brandt was better under him than in the previous two seasons together.
A title contender needs the right mix: an experienced captain, new players for a breath of fresh air and existing talent that continues to develop. A hit-and-run action has never been good. Especially since behind every triumph there is another very important factor: patience.
Does BVB have to part with a DFB quintet to win titles again? Who is right?
In “Duel of the Week”, Florian Wichert (Deputy Editor-in-Chief at t-online) and Robert Hiersemann (Head of Football and Sport) usually comment on current football topics on a weekly basis. This week Melanie Muschong (Editor Sport) will play against Florian Wichert. You can also see the “duel” in moving image format: on Monday from 10.30 p.m. on free TV as part of “Bundesliga Analysis” on Sport 1 – or from 4 p.m. here in the video above.