Hummels’ departure at the right moment
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Ousmane Dembélé, Jude Bellingham and Jadon Sancho are among the five most expensive departures in Bundesliga history – all of them once left Borussia Dortmund and the first two mentioned even brought transfer fees well over 100 million euros. According to club boss Hans-Joachim Watzke, BVB will continue to rely on such deals in the future in order to remain competitive, especially internationally. The 65-year-old explained this in the “Sport Bild” interview.
“Such transfers are essential for us. We have been playing above every limit of what is possible for ten years,” said Watzke. “Everyone who knows this city knows that Dortmund is the location that certainly has the hardest time internationally. We are currently in seventh place in the UEFA rankings and only have giant metropolises with incredible economic power around us.” Compared to London, Paris, Madrid or Milan, BVB is a “small Gallic village” that is always fighting against superior power. “The only reason we can do this is because we make a big transfer every two or three years. If we didn’t do that, we wouldn’t have a chance at all.”
When asked who could be the next Dortmund player to cost that much money, Watzke said he “had a few ideas” but didn’t want to put a backpack on any player. The most valuable BVB professionals are currently market value winner Jamie Gittens (20) with 50 million euros as well as Gregor Kobel (27), Serhou Guirassy (28) and Nico Schlotterbeck (25), each valued at 40 million.
Watzke gives BVB newcomers Beier & Anton time
In the summer, BVB brought in both young and established players with Maximilian Beier (22), Waldemar Anton (28), Pascal Groß (33), Yan Couto (22) and Guirassy. After reaching the Champions League final, the gap should actually be closed nationally. That hasn’t worked so far. But despite the disappointing performances so far – with the exception of the premier class – with sixth place in the Bundesliga and the cup exit in the second round in Wolfsburg, Watzke did not want to break the baton about the players they had brought in.
“The earliest you can make a serious assessment is after a year. Some players first have to get used to the Borussia Dortmund environment. (…) The best example is Felix Nmecha: it took him over a year to mature into a top player. There were already people who wanted to break the baton in the summer. You have to allow the new guys to do the same thing now.” Nmecha (24) came to the Black and Yellows from Wolfsburg for 30 million euros a year and a half ago, but had a difficult first year. The national player has now blossomed and increased his market value to a career high of 28 million euros.
The chairman of the management team, who handed over sporting responsibility to Lars Ricken in May and will be leaving the BVB professionals at the end of 2025, emphasized that there could have been even larger transfers. But only “by selling top performers. But we refused because we were financially able to do so. Of course, the sale of Niclas Füllkrug (for 30 million to West Ham; editor’s note) was extremely important for us. This is one of the reasons why we achieved an exceptional result.”
Hummels departure: Watzke sees BVB defense strong enough
Despite his inconsistent performance, Watzke does not regret the free transfer of long-time defense chief Mats Hummels (36; after the end of his contract to AS Roma). “Our central defense is one of the strongest in Germany,” said the BVB boss, whose defense around the joint most valuable keeper in the world, Kobel, has so far conceded 22 goals in the Bundesliga. Six out of 17 teams have better statistics.
Watzke explained: “Nico Schlotterbeck, for example, has developed extremely. And honestly, you can only develop if a vacancy arises. Everyone knows how I personally feel about Mats. But nonetheless: At some point something comes to an end, and that was the right moment. With Nico, Waldemar Anton, Emre Can and Niklas Süle, I don’t think we really have a problem in this position.”