Dortmund carry on regardless of setbacks
Highly respected head coach Jurgen Klopp is working feverishly
with sporting director Michael Zorc this summer in an attempt to place Borussia
Dortmund in the perfect position to challenge for Europe’s premier prize once again
next season, having come so close to their target in May.
German rivals Bayern Munich proved their nemesis at Wembley
in the Champions League final of 2013 and look extremely strong under new coach
Pep Guardiola. They swept all before them last campaign when achieving a
fabulous treble consisting of the league title, domestic cup and Champions
League under Jupp Heynckes. To further strengthen their hand, while weakening
that of Dortmund, Bayern struck a critical blow by agreeing a deal to sign
starlet Mario Gotze shortly before the Champions League semi-finals
were played.
Losing Gotze is one thing, but the prospect of star striker
Robert Lewandowski following him out of the door to Munich was too much for
Dortmund to bear. The Pole has one year left on his deal, leaving Zorc and his
superiors with a major dilemma on their hands. Should they cash-in on him now,
while he still holds significant value? Or, would the best course of action be
to force him into seeing out the remaining 12 months on his contract,
effectively accepting that he’ll walk away for nothing next July?
The ultimate decision of the club was to advise Lewandowski
of their intention to hold on to him for the year, while bringing in an
abundance of talent to further augment the squad. To illustrate this, Dortmund
confirmed their third major buy of the summer yesterday evening in the shape of
Shakhtar Donetsk attacking midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan for £23 million. The
much sought-after Armenian international was strongly linked with Liverpool and
Spurs, but turned down the duo in favour of an opportunity to gun for glory in the
Champions League with BVB.
The opening recruits to the line-up were Werder Bremen’s
Greek defender Sokratis and Saint-Etienne forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang,
who turned down a host of potential suitors to make the switch to north-west Germany.
Further signings are expected to arrive at the Westfalenstadion
(also known as Signal Iduna Park) over the coming weeks, with Klopp and Zorc putting
long hours in so they can locate and deliver the correct ingredients for the
team. Last season’s near miss will prove a spur for the club to go
one better next time and with the quality of players coming into the club, it
looks likely they’ll be capable of sustaining a challenge on both domestic and European
fronts.
It’s also deeply heartening for the club that despite the departure of Gotze, they can still attract top footballers to join them in the midst
of stiff market competition from numerous rivals across the continent.
Holding on to charismatic coach Klopp was hugely important
to the project and judging by the heavy investment laid out on new blood already,
the belief within the corridors of power remains that BVB can continue to
threaten for the biggest trophies on offer.
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