Sebastian Kehl has ensured that Borussia Dortmund will continue to compete with the biggest clubs in Europe despite the financial disadvantages they have.
With more clubs gaining heavy investment from billionaire owners and more competition in the transfer market coming from Saudi Arabia, Borussia Dortmund are finding it increasingly difficult to compete with the top clubs across Europe.
The top players in Europe have been attracted towards the English Premier League and recently the Saudi Arabian leagues due to the financial power these clubs have by offering high wages to players and also offering high transfer fees to clubs that they can not refuse to turn down.
Dortmund sporting director Sebastian Kehl wants to keep finding creative solutions in order to compete for the big trophies in the future.
In an interview with WAZ, Kehl explained that the club need to take more risks in the transfer windows and the signings of Julian Ryerson and Julien Duranville are proof of that.
“In terms of some transfer fees and salaries, we can no longer compete, we have to accept that. We have to be more creative, more courageous, sign players on free transfers, and possibly bring in young players even earlier. Logically, this means taking more risks.
“One example is Julien Duranville, who is still growing and who is unfortunately currently struggling with injuries. We believe in him and are building him up carefully, but that takes time.
“Julian Ryerson was a courageous solution in my opinion, signing someone from Union Berlin in the winter who wasn’t immediately a household name to every fan. Today, you can see how important he is for us.”
Kehl has also admitted that the club may also need to sell players in order to stay competitive.
“Yes, we have competitive disadvantages compared to clubs backed by billionaire owners or entire states, we have to earn our own money, and we will repeatedly have to look to sell players as well. Of course, I would have liked to keep Jude Bellingham, seeing the impact he is already making at Real Madrid. Nevertheless, we want to play an important role in Europe.
“There are new players on the market, if you look at our [Champions League] group alone, Newcastle have invested an insane amount of money, Milan too. Paris as well. We’ve had to deal with these challenges for a long time. We need the Champions League every year for economic reasons, and we’re not going to accept just taking a back seat in sporting terms.”
GGFN | Matthew Gritton
