For a number of years, Borussia Dortmund have been known for their ability to identify very young, vastly talented players and bring them to the Signal Iduna Park. Their power to get those players mostly came from the fact that they were willing and able to offer those players a nicely weighed combination of regular game-time and high-level football. They were always the perfect option for youngsters who were not getting the minutes their development craved and didn’t want to go to lower leagues, or play for mid-table teams.
However, the market has changed significantly in the last couple of transfer windows and the new situation seems to be here to stay, at least for now. Bigger and richer clubs, such as Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Manchester City, and even Real Madrid among others, have started searching for players in same age group as Dortmund used to. It seems they’ve grown tired of signing the likes of Erling Haaland, Jude Bellingham and Jadon Sancho for vast amounts of money and decided to try and get them much cheaper before Dortmund get the chance to raise their value.
One of the clearest consequences of this change is the fact that the average age of Dortmund’s squad increased from 26 to 28 between 2022/23 and 2023/24. Rather than go for the next Haaland, Bellingham or Sancho, they’ve brought in the likes of Marcel Sabitzer (30), Niklas Fullkrug (30), and chose Sancho himself to return to the club after the controversies which plagued his Manchester United stay.
And now, they’ll be playing against Real Madrid in the Champions League final on Saturday.
This achievement is rather different from the widespread expectations usually surrounding Borussia Dortmund. Not since Jurgen Klopp’s days back in 2012 have they won the Bundesliga title, and it appears they’ve learned to be happy with finishing below Bayern, as long as they qualify for the Champions League.
One might almost say Dortmund have been forced to start looking…
Source link : https://www.soccernews.com/borussia-dortmunds-transfer-policy-change-coincides-with-reaching-champions-league-final/372120/
Author : Veselin Trajkovic
Publish date : 2024-05-30 18:22:55
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.