For a number of years, Borussia Dortmund have been known for their ability to identify very young, vastly talented players and bring them to the Signal Iduna Park. Their power to get those players mostly came from the fact that they were willing and able to offer those players a nicely weighed combination of regular game-time and high-level football. They were always the perfect option for youngsters who were not getting the minutes their development craved and didn’t want to go to lower leagues, or play for mid-table teams.
However, the market has changed significantly in the last couple of transfer windows and the new situation seems to be here to stay, at least for now. Bigger and richer clubs, such as Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Manchester City, and even Real Madrid among others, have started searching for players in same age group as Dortmund used to. It seems they’ve grown tired of signing the likes of Erling Haaland, Jude Bellingham and Jadon Sancho for vast amounts of money and decided to try and get them much cheaper before Dortmund get the chance to raise their value.
One of the clearest consequences of this change is the fact that the average age of Dortmund’s squad increased from 26 to 28 between 2022/23 and 2023/24. Rather than go for the next Haaland, Bellingham or Sancho, they’ve brought in the likes of Marcel Sabitzer (30), Niklas Fullkrug (30), and chose Sancho himself to return to the club after the controversies which plagued his Manchester United stay.
And now, they’ll be playing against Real Madrid in the Champions League final on Saturday.
This achievement is rather different from the widespread expectations usually surrounding Borussia Dortmund. Not since Jurgen Klopp’s days back in 2012 have they won the Bundesliga title, and it appears they’ve learned to be happy with finishing below Bayern, as long as they qualify for the Champions League.
One might almost say Dortmund have been forced to start looking to the present, having spent years only planning for the future but never materializing those plans as big clubs came in and picked their talented players off, one by one, year after year. Their game is much more mature these days, both on and off the pitch.
The question of the immediate future remains for those in charge at the club to contemplate, of course. Can this success in the Champions League spark something more on the domestic front in 2024/25 while pushing on far again on Europe’s greatest stage, or will it be a peak from which this team goes down the hill? It’s hard to guess at this point.
But right now, Borussia Dortmund are living in the moment. Their minds won’t be going past the great event taking place at Wembley on Saturday right now. As they were for a very long time on all fronts, they’ve been labeled as the underdogs against the team wearing the phrase “European royalty” around their neck like so many medals.
Dortmund won’t mind, though. It obviously reduces the pressure on their shoulders and brings the chance for something truly historic. The last team to have beaten Real Madrid in the European Cup final were Liverpool in 1981, and Los Blancos got their revenge on the Merseysiders twice over in recent years. It will certainly take something special to beat them now, but Borussia Dortmund surely dare to dream.
