Earlier this week, an American, Christian Pulisic, completed a £58 million move from Borussia Dortmund to Chelsea, which many realised showed the London club’s intent to strengthen their squad. What some have failed to notice, however, is the fact that this deal also shows the way in which the Bundesliga leaders will be affected in a long-term sense. Dortmund currently sit in first position of the Bundesliga, thanks to a whole host of youngsters which have been bought, loaned or even homegrown, and will have Pulisic on loan until the end of the year to help with their title attempt. Last time Borussia Dortmund were victors in the league, in the 11-12 season, some of the breakout players were Mats Hummels, Robert Lewandowski, Mario Gotze, Shinji Kagawa and Ivan Periši?. Though some have since returned, all have left the club at least once in the period since, which, despite the hefty fee received, is quite telling.
In the following season they enjoyed many victories, until, before 13-14, Dortmund offloaded Lewandowski. Gotze quickly followed the next year, along with a few other senior talents. This resulted in a dry patch where successes were few and far between, as they failed to bring through talents, unlike before. Until this year, Dortmund hadn’t achieved very much recently due to lack of youngsters coming through the ranks, while breakouts in 11-12 all enjoyed stellar seasons. Had they kept them, perhaps Dortmund fans would have enjoyed a more successful period. After the first failing, one would hope that Dortmund manager, Lucien Favre, and the board have learnt from their errors. Selling Pulisic is the start of their second downfall, and if they continue to get rid of other key players like Jadon Sancho or Paco Alcacer, it seems fans will have to endure another dry period.
Published in Daily Times, January 6th 2019.