Borussia Dortmund, on the brink of chaos
3 min read
Talking about delicate situations in times of COVID, Borussia Dortmund’s current situation is a grand example of what can happen if results don’t go your way. The German team is currently struggling mightily in the Bundesliga and there is a very valid concern that they might not make it to the next season of the UEFA Champions League. And if that happens, this talented squad might be torn apart due to financial reasons.
This season has been extremely tough for football clubs everywhere: no fans, no income by tickets, intense schedules with little time to rest and the financial losses that are going to harm them for a considerable amount of time. In Italy we can read about the struggles Inter Milan had with the Achraf Hakimi deal and the Tunisian’s former club, Borussia Dortmund, is going through a very delicate situation as well.
This Saturday Dortmund drew with Hoffenheim 2-2 and the former are now sitting in the 6th position of the Bundesliga, with the genuine possibility of missing out on Champions League football if their performances don’t improve. This situation already cost the job of manager Lucien Favre and interim manager Edin Terzić hasn’t managed to improve the results, at least not in a considerable manner.
All of this could have very serious ramifications if the worst case scenario becomes a reality for the German side. The whole business of Borussia Dortmund’s board is to sign talented and unknown young players and develop them, give them a platform to become known all across the football world, reach Champions League football and sell them for a very significant profit. That has been their business model since the early 2010s and has proven to be beneficial for all parties involved.
The only big issue is when the team fails to qualify to the biggest club competition in the world and a world pandemic takes a monumental toll on your finances–all of the sudden, the business model begins to fall apart. And there are already a lot of rumors of potential sales if this situation comes to happen.
The most likely casualty, even if Dortmund manages to get top four this season, is the sale of English winger Jadon Sancho. It is no secret that the former Manchester City youngster was very close to joining Manchester United last season, but the Dortmund board was too stubborn on their 120 million euros valuation and now it is almost a fact that Sancho would leave in the next summer, with the Red Devils once again interested, only this time with a lower fee in place, which is going to haunt director of sport Michael Zorc in the coming years.
But this goes beyond Sancho. Erling Braut Haaland, Gio Reyna, Manuel Akanji, Julian Brandt, Raphael Guerreiro… all of them could be potential sales to save the club’s finances, lower the wages and overall to find a degree of balance in what is going to be a very tough time for the German club.
This is a very clear and sad sample of what can happen for football clubs, even the biggest clubs, during this pandemic.
