174 million euros. This exceptional figure represents the profits made by Borussia Dortmund for the sale of only two players: Ousmane Dembélé (FC Barcelona) and Christian Pulisic (Chelsea). Even if these two nuggets are not pure products of the Ruhr training center, they embody a philosophy that allowed the Schwarz-Gelben to recover imperially from a deep crisis. On the verge of bankruptcy in 2005, the German club had then drastically cleaned up its finances and appealed to young shoots to start again from the front. Led by Jürgen Klopp, the club has developed an incredibly effective scouting strategy, by recruiting young prospects and transforming them into indisputable incumbents, capable of conquering the Bundesliga twice in 2011 and 2012. The best example? Robert Lewandowski, 3rd top scorer in Bundesliga history (221 goals) and recruited 4.5 million euros at Lech Poznan in 2010. Jadon Sancho and Erling Haaland, both 19, are today the worthy successors of the Pole.
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However, this philosophy is not short-termist, as Carsten Krammer, Executive Director of the BVB denies it. “ It is part of our DNA. We position ourselves as a challenger. We want to remain a youth training and development club. We are not Porto, which develops its players to sell them and then have sporting difficulties. We want to develop our young people and keep them as long as possible. And if we remain ambitious, we will continue to keep them as long as possible, and that is the only way for us to remain competitive, ”he explains.
“ Young talents want to come play with us. The young Matheo Morey from Barça had offers from many major European clubs. He gave an interview, and even after 3 months without playing, he remains convinced that he made the right choice by coming here. Young people want to come to us and we are making it harder and harder for them to leave the club, constantly improving it ”
Carste, Krammer, Executive Director of BVBApart from Ousmane Dembélé, whom the BVB " had to give in to Barcelona", there are few young players who only stay one season in the Ruhr area. A virtuous phenomenon then sets in for the German club, which benefits from a solid reputation with the potential football stars of tomorrow. “ Young talents want to come play with us. The young Matheo Morey from Barça had offers from many major European clubs. He gave an interview, and even after 3 months without playing, he remains convinced that he made the right choice by coming here. The young people want to come to our house and we are making it harder and harder for them to leave the club, constantly improving it, ”adds Krammer.
An alternative model to the XXL budgets of European cadors
A phenomenon also valid for other German clubs, which Jonathan Harding, author of the book Mensch, beyond the cones, explains easily: “ It is the best way to remain competitive in a system which aims above all for profit. If you develop players and coaches yourself, then you are ahead of the rest. This is made possible by the 50 + 1 rule, which prevents arriving at astronomical sums to buy talents rather than developing them. Many fans even appreciate the concept of having great talent only for a few seasons, "said the British journalist.
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“ It's not just a nice speech, it's a reality: we can show them examples of young people playing. In addition, the requirements are high but less compared to Bayern: they have to win, we want to win, ” says Krammer. However, it was with the ambition of winning the Bundesliga that Dortmund had started the 2019-2020 season. With 4 points behind Bayern Munich, despite the crisis experienced by Munich residents at the start of the season *, the BVB is not in line with its objectives. And will try to give another reading to his season against Paris Saint-Germain, Tuesday evening.
* Bayern had separated from Niko Kovac after only 10 days of the championship on November 3, 2019 after an incredible rout against Frankfurt (1-5).
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