National player Pascal Groß left Borussia Dortmund last winter after just a year and a half to play again for Premier League club Brighton & Hove Albion. The 34-year-old looks back fondly on his time at BVB, even though everything wasn’t always easy.
“I don’t want to miss my time at BVB at all, even if it was chaotic at times,” says DFB player and World Cup driver Pascal Groß in an interview with “Sport Bild” about his interlude at Borussia Dortmund.
Groß came to black and yellow in the summer of 2024, where he ultimately was not always able to meet the high expectations. He ultimately played 66 competitive games for BVB, in which he scored one goal and at least 17 assists.
After the central midfielder was increasingly rotated out of the starting eleven under head coach Niko Kovac last season, it was decided to part ways. In the winter, former club Brighton & Hove Albion paid two million euros for the veteran, who had previously played successfully for the Seagulls for seven years.
Groß jumps back on the World Cup bandwagon after BVB’s farewell
“I’m extremely proud that I played for Dortmund,” said Groß now: “For me, the home games were the best thing about my time at BVB, as were the Champions League games in front of this unique backdrop. But from a sporting perspective, returning to Brighton was simply the step that gave me the best chance of getting on the World Cup train.”
The plan worked: After a strong second half of the season in the Premier League, in which he played all 19 games and was almost always in the starting line-up (one goal, three assists), Pascal Groß was called up again to Julian Nagelsmann’s DFB squad.
His role in the national team is to “be ready at every second when I’m needed,” revealed Groß: “And I think I can do that well in training. The goal must be to always train at the highest level, to raise the level so that we are ready for the games.”