Borussia Dortmund will say goodbye to Christian Pulisic this summer after Chelsea signed the American international for a reported £58m.
The 20-year-old forward will remain in Germany, now on loan from the Blues, so these last few months is akin to a farewell tour.
His departure also represents yet again what good business BVB conduct in today’s market. Signed for a pittance, he leaves north of £50m.
In fact, making such a profit is becoming a speciality for the Bundesliga powerhouse, who in the last several years have lost big names only to reinvest well and go again.
And that is the name of the game. Dortmund, who don’t exactly have access to large resources, have to be smart. Pulisic going doesn’t spell the end of this process. Instead, one can now expect them to pull a rabbit out of the hat with their next transfer.
They’ve done it before. As follows are some such examples of players sold for big sums, only to be swiftly replaced during the same window or year. But there is a twist, as we have looked back, it’s worth judging whether those replacements have been a hit or miss.
Sold: Sokratis Papastathopoulos to Arsenal (£17.6m)
Signed: Abdou Diallo from Mainz 05 (£25.2m)
Season: 2018/19 (summer)
Sokratis joined Dortmund following their impressive run to the 2013 Champions League final. The BVB, with Jurgen Klopp at the helm, would establish one of European football’s defining central defensive partnerships in Mats Hummels and Neven Subotić, so it seemed only natural the Greek international would have to bide his time.
But this wasn’t the case. A combination of factors enabled Sokratis to cement a regular berth in Klopp’s starting line-up, and he would continue to feature under the current Liverpool manager’s successors – Thomas Tuchel, Peter Bosz and Peter Stöger – before leaving for Arsenal last summer.
Dortmund’s record in recruiting centre-backs isn’t too shabby. Sokratis, who served the Die Borussen well, essentially made way for Abdou Diallo, who joined from Mainz 05 – the same club as Subotić.
So far, so good. The 22-year-old Frenchman whenever fit has a fixed role under Lucien Favre. To date, he’s amassed 10 league appearances registering one goal and dismissal which came in their 1-1 draw with TSG 1899 Hoffenheim earlier this season.
Verdict: Hit
Sold: Ousmane Dembélé to Barcelona (£96.8m)
Signed: Jadon Sancho from Manchester City (£8m)
Season: 2017/18 (summer)
Everyone has a price in football, and when Barcelona were prepared to spend nearly £100m on acquiring the services of Ousmane Dembélé, soon after they had lost Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain for a world record fee, the BVB weren’t going to stand in his way.
Truthfully speaking, the relationship between Dembélé and Dortmund had broken down, so a transfer was always on the cards. It was a sad end to what promised to be a fruitful partnership.
As he packed his bags for sunny Spain, arriving to inherit Dembélé’s ‘number seven’ jersey was teenage English forward Jadon Sancho, who also caused a stir in the way he departed then parent club Manchester City.
Sancho’s reasoning for the move was simple; Dortmund guaranteed a fast track to first-team football – thus accelerating his development – something that has proven to be difficult for a number of City academy graduates down the years.
Such has been his incredible start – he scored eight goals and made 14 assists in 36 appearances – he relegated Pulisic to a squad role before the US international signed that blockbuster deal with Chelsea.
Verdict: Hit
Sold: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to Arsenal (£56m)
Signed: Michy Batshuayi (loan) and then Paco Alcácer (loan)
Season(s): 2017/18 (winter) and 2018/19 (summer)
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang joined BVB to great fanfare in 2013 but exited amid controversy last January.
The 29-year-old Gabonese marksman’s record, though, speaks for itself. Aubameyang across 213 appearances would bag 141 goals in all competitions and finished the 2016/17 season as Bundesliga top-scorer.
However, disciplinary issues plagued his final months at the club, and in January 2018 he swapped North Rhine-Westphalia for north London to join Arsenal.
Aubameyang ultimately replaced Olivier Giroud, who left for Chelsea a move that saw Michy Batshuayi (albeit on loan) fill the space vacated by Arsenal’s ‘number 14’.
Batshuayi made up for Aubameyang’s lost goals by scoring nine times in 14 appearances, before returning to England. But it would be the signing that followed that can be deemed as Auba’s successor.
Paco Alcácer struggled for playing time at Barcelona and viewed Dortmund as somewhere he could get his career back on track. Despite only starting five league games this season Alcácer, who has featured in 12 Bundesliga outings, has 12 goals to his name.
Verdict: Hit
Sold: Matthias Ginter to Borussia Mönchengladbach (£15.3m)
Signed: Manuel Akanji from FC Basel (£19.3m)
Season: 2017/18
Big things were expected of Matthias Ginter when he joined Dortmund from SC Freiburg in the summer of 2014.
The promising German centre-back was earmarked for the future but remained at the Westfalenstadion for three seasons before joining Borussia Mönchengladbach, where he continues to fulfil his talents.
His exit saw Dortmund move in the market and they acquired the services of FC Basel central defender Manuel Akanji, who is first choice on Favre’s team sheet when available.
Akanji has quietly developed a solid partnership with Diallo; many even predict it will become as fearsome as the one formed by Hummels and Subotic.
Verdict: Hit
Sold: Mats Hummels to Bayern Munich (£30m)
Signed: Marc Bartra from Barcelona (£7.2m)
Season: 2016/17
It’s never easy losing a key player to a rival, especially when that individual was on course to become a club great. Mats Hummels symbolised the BVB’s renaissance under Klopp so to join Bayern, the boogeyman, was a kick in the proverbial teeth.
Hummels was there for their incredible back-to-back championship triumphs, subsequently announcing himself as one of Europe’s finest central defenders, before playing a pivotal role in reaching the 2013 European Cup final.
Bayern won that day and soon after purchased Mario Götze, Robert Lewandowski (on a Bosman) and Hummels.
Marc Bartra, tipped for stardom during his Barcelona youth days, was supposed to ease the pain. For a while, he did just that but could never live up to the billing and following a difficult final campaign (2017/18) returned to Spain.
Verdict: Miss
Sold: İlkay Gündoğan to Manchester City (£20m)
Signed: Sebastian Rode from Bayern Munich (£12.6m)
Season: 2016/17 (summer)
Dortmund’s reputation of developing footballers is now world-renowned. Gündoğan, who joined from FC Nürnberg in 2011, went from a prospect to a great example of a modern ‘number eight’.
The native of Gelsenkirchen soon attracted many admirers but remained loyal to BVB before feeling it was time. One reason he never had an exit on his mind was how the club treated him during his numerous spells on the sidelines.
A healthy Gündoğan is only matched by a few. Manchester City have yet to see the best of him and the same could be said for Dortmund and Sebastian Rode, who arrived the summer Gündoğan left.
Rode, to put it plainly, has been a disappointment. To date, he’s made 22 appearances for the club (injuries, plenty of them, have played a role), and is presently on loan at Eintracht Frankfurt.
Verdict: Miss
Sold: Henrikh Mkhitaryan to Manchester United (£30m)
Signed: Ousmane Dembélé from Rennes (£13.5m)
Season: 2016/17 (summer)
Mkhitaryan enjoyed his best season for BVB prior to joining Manchester United.
The multifunctional Armenian forward created no fewer than 20 goals across 31 Bundesliga outings, thus earning the accolade of ‘assist king’, but he was never able to replicate that at Old Trafford.
But what of his replacement? Well, he’s been somewhat more of a success. Mkhitaryan, who can play just behind the centre-forward, nominally operated wide in his final campaign.
Dortmund signed André Schürrle and Ousmane Dembélé that summer, though it was the latter who played the most minutes and made the biggest impression.
Verdict: Hit
Sold: Mario Götze to Bayern Munich (£31.5m)
Signed: Henrikh Mkhitaryan from Shakhtar Donetsk (£22.5m)
Season: 2013/14 (summer)
This one really hurt. Mario Götze, seen as the club’s golden child, soon after BVB reached the 2013 Champions League final made it known he was going to join Bayern that summer.
The revelation took everyone for surprise including manager Klopp who done well to compose himself. Up until that point, Götze was Dortmund’s heart and represented a new breed of playmaker.
To say the supporters were angry is an understatement. As the former Golden Boy exited stage left, BVB welcomed Henrikh Mkhitaryan from Shakhtar Donetsk.
As soon as the Armenian was settled Götze was forgotten. His time at Bayern, meanwhile, wasn’t all sunshine and the German international returned home the summer Mkhitaryan departed like two ships passing in the night.
Verdict: Hit
Sold: Shinji Kagawa to Manchester United (£12m)
Signed: Marco Reus from Borussia Mönchengladbach (£15.4m)
Season: 2012/13 (winter)
Kagawa was a true success story. Signed from humble origins the Japanese playmaker would turn out to be BVB’s secret weapon in their championship triumphs under Klopp.
If anyone represented the club’s excellent transfer strategy, it was him. For decades Asian footballers have made Germany their home and Kagawa followed in the footsteps of his predecessors.
However, as we’ve come to know, the attention generated by success can lead to doomed career moves. Manchester United saw Kagawa as the creative solution their midfield was crying out for. A pity his time at Old Trafford, despite winning a Premier League winners medal, was arguably a waste of two years.
He would return and link up with the man who had initially replaced him. Marco Reus, who came through BVB’s youth set-up left before making a name for himself at Gladbach, would make up for lost time. Now the club’s most influential player and captain, there is no question Reus is a hit.
Verdict: Hit
The post Hit or miss? How Dortmund replaced recent big-money transfer sales appeared first on Squawka News.
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