Mario Götze has been outside at Borussia Dortmund for weeks. It amounts to a silent farewell. The contract is only valid until June 30th. Thanks to his experience, however, he could make a contribution to the game of BVB at Paris Saint-Germain in the evening (9 p.m. live ticker SPIEGEL.de; stream: Dazn). Götze was there when FC Bayern played a game in the Champions League without spectators in September 2014. At the time, it was racist failures of CSKA Moscow fans that led to the exclusion of spectators. Now it is the corona virus that leaves the seats in the Parisian Prince Park free.
–
Nobody can predict exactly how it will be in the French capital and then in the derby against FC Schalke 04 on Saturday, not even Götze. He will most likely be on the bench if BVB plays one of his most important games in recent years. To advance against the PSG, which was coached by former coach Thomas Tuchel after the narrow 2-1 victory in the first leg, would be a great success for sporting and economic reasons.
With Sancho and Zagadou against Neymar and Mbappé
It would also be a confirmation to be able to belong to the narrowest circle of the European elite by a different path than the opponent. Committing Ángel Di María, Edinson Cavani and Neymar was a question of money, just like Kylian Mbappé. Although he was only 17 years old when PSG brought him from AS Monaco, Mbappé had already shown a crowd of millions what outstanding skills he had.
–
This applies in stages to Erling Haaland on the Dortmund side. The 19-year-old Norwegian, who scored both goals in the first leg, had scored eight times for RB Salzburg in the group stage, scaring many other clubs. One of these typical BVB transfers would have been Haaland if he had landed in Westphalia at least half a year earlier.
A transfer like Jadon Sancho, who had not played a game for the Manchester City professionals before moving to BVB. Ousmane Dembélé belongs in this category, including Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, even if he was already 24 years old when he signed up. Both came from mediocre French clubs. Dan-Axel Zagadou was signed by Paris Saint-Germain, but from the second team. The central defender is one who is likely to make a multiple of the transfer that it cost – just like Sancho.
–
New transfer strategy in the face of bankruptcy
In the past ten financial years, the transfer income of the listed football company from Dortmund has exceeded expenditure five times. With the competitors FC Bayern and RB Leipzig, this was only the case once. The transfer balance of the BVB for this period is positive according to calculations by the portal “transfermarkt.de” with 106 million euros. The Bavarians spent about 328 million euros more than they earned. Even for Leipzigers who have only played in the Bundesliga since the 2016/2017 season, the balance is clearly negative at around 188 million euros.
–
The strategy of discovering talent with high development potential and the prospect of a significant increase in market value early on was born in Dortmund out of financial hardship in the wake of the impending bankruptcy in 2005. In 2010, even the training allowance of around EUR 350,000 for Shinji Kagawa was said to have been an investment that had been considered for a long time.
In the same summer Robert Lewandowski was signed by Lech Posen for almost five million euros, Mario Götze joined the professional team from his youth. They were developed under Jürgen Klopp to top players. The trainer was the most important factor in the training club’s strategy, which, however, already failed under him and also in the years after.
–
Emre Mor, Leonardo Bittencourt, Sergio Gomez, Mikel Merino and Alexander Isak are names that didn’t work out. Merino and Isak, however, are currently showing at Real Sociedad in San Sebastián that BVB may have been too patient. An impatience, which may cost a lot of money and indicates a turning away.
Mats Hummels, Axel Witsel and now Emre Can are transfers that are also expensive in terms of salaries. The recently published semi-annual report shows that BVB – especially after the obligations of Haaland and Can in winter – results in salary costs of well over 200 million euros. That poses dangers. The fewer players with high market development potential in the squad, the greater the economic pressure to be in the Champions League every year. And then have to reach at least the round of 16 there. BVB is on a fine line when it comes to transfers.
Because whether Giovanni Reyna will be as valuable as Sancho, whether Youssoufa Moukoko will meet with the professionals as currently in the U19 – that is questionable. It is questionable whether the 16-year-old Jew Bellingham, for whom BVB has good chances of signing up according to SPIEGEL information, could be in the middle of the Bundesliga in the Bundesliga as it is currently at Birmingham City. According to the old reading, it would certainly be a typical BVB transfer.
–
