Dortmund "re-tool"

When you lose your main creator in one summer and your best player/top goalscorer the next, that would usually result in a devastating drop off. However, having lost Jadon Sancho already to Man Utd and endured the absence of Erling Haaland for parts of this season, the black and yellow sit firmly second in the Bundesliga. It's not absurd to think that Dortmund will be alright when the Norwegian inevitably leaves. Especially when you consider this is the Dortmund model; find the most talented young players, develop them to become "world class", sell them for a small fortune, and reinvest in the team to challenge Bayern.

Taking a look at the team, I see a number of positions that are in good hands. Gregor Kobel has made the #1 goalkeeper role his own, and he's one of the better ones in the entire league. Mats Hummels is still good, though his legs are somewhat gone at this point. Guerreiro is a beast at LB, providing quality on the ball on that wing, or even inverting at times. Bellingham is one of the best young players in football. Brandt, Reus, and Reyna provide more than enough depth at the #10 position, and can fit in different roles together if need be. Meunier has been decent this year, and if Morey can stay fit that's a good tandem at RB.

Looking now at the downsides to the current squad. CB is a problem. I've never been convinced with Akanji, although some out there rate him highly. Zagadou is injured more often than not, which is a real shame as there's a top talent there. Hummels, as I said, has never been fleet of foot but now it's becoming a liability in his game. I don't have a problem with him starting, but he needs legs around him. Emre Can has played back there, which is never ideal in a back four. Midfield also has an issue, as Witsel has aged and is out of contract in the summer. Outside of him, you end up with Can or Dahoud playing DM, which isn't good enough at this level. That's a clear position of need. Dahoud is fine on the left as the passer of the three, Bellingham on the right is the box-to-box guy and goal threat, and they just need an anchor. I'd also be looking to nail down a formation, be it the 4-3-1-2, 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3. For this exercise I'm assuming it'll be the former, as that's what Rose has gone with. That said, replacing Haaland and his goals is one of the main priorities as well. Adeyemi has been linked, and I like him so I have no problem there.

Center back: If Zagadou goes when his contract expires, I'd be looking for two. Either that or trust Can to play CB and then sign two midfielders. An obvious shout already in the league is Moussa Niakhate. He would reduce the physical burden on Hummels. Also left footed, so he'd fill in and hopefully be fit, unlike Zagadou. Another is Nico Schlotterbeck (Freiburg). I just wonder if he's already out of the price range for Dortmund. I'll mention two other left-footed Bundesliga guys; John Brooks and Evan N'Dicka. I always mention N'Dicka in these convos, so I don't need to express why once again. Brooks is interesting because he's out of contract. If you want pace on the right side, St Juste of Mainz is the fastest in the league.

Defensive midfield: Two names on the top of my list are Nicolas Dominguez and Boubacar Kamara. The former is on a pretty mediocre Bologna team and the latter is out of contract in the summer. A lazy link would be to bring Zakaria from Gladbach, but I'll leave that alone. Dominguez is perfect, I think, because he is my kind of DM. A destroyer, as I call it. You have all of Akanji, Can and Hummels who can progress the ball from the back, plus Bellingham and Dahoud in midfield. All you need here is a guy to do the dirty work. An extra shout in the middle of the park is Gianluca Busio. He's at Venezia, who may well get relegated, and he already plays with Reyna on the national team. He'd basically be competition for Dahoud, in terms of role. He's more defensively sound but much worse going forward, though he's young (19) and still raw. Also, you could play them together if Bellingham happened to be out, with Busio sitting deep with Dominguez (or Can) and Dahoud bursting forward.

Center forward: I mentioned Adeyemi, so let's discuss him. He fits the Dortmund model. Young, playing at Salzburg which means he's learned to press, rapid, can finish, has played in the Champions League. One cool aspect to his game is he can drift out to the right wing, which in a narrow formation is necessary for at least one of the strikers. In terms of an actual Haaland replacement, I know this is short term, but Duvan Zapata. I'm writing about Atalanta concurrently and his contract ends in 2023, as does Muriel. It could be tempting to sell in the summer, just saying. They're more of a selling club than Dortmund. You do have to consider the Atalanta tax, but then again, it's the Bundesliga. Malen was bought and has frankly been terrible so far, but you can't count him out already. If you were to say sell Moukoko and have some sort of buy back clause, that would leave you with Tigges, who I don't think is good enough, Malen who I already mentioned, and Adeyemi who's only just moved to the league.

I'm going to estimate some prices, since that is fun to me. Let's just say Haaland goes for 150m euros.

Niakhate- 15m (1 year left)

Dominguez- 25m

Adeyemi- 35m

Busio- loan with option/obligation

*Zapata- 20m (1 year left, 31 y/o at season's end)

TOTAL: 95m

Of course, I don't think the Zapata thing will happen. That's just what I'd love to see. Here's how the squad would look with just the first four, which I think are doable. Oh, and I forgot left back. I'd bring in Halstenberg as his contract is up and get rid of Schulz, so add 10m to the money coming in.

CF: Adeyemi, Malen, Moukoko, Tigges

AM/winger: Hazard, Reus, Reyna, Wolf

CM: Bellingham, Brandt, Dahoud

DM: Dominguez, Busio

Full back: Guerreiro, Halstenberg, Morey, Meunier, Passlack

CB: Hummels, Akanji, Niakhate, Can

GK: Kobel, Burki/Hitz

I still don't like the lack of a legit right winger in the squad. I know Reus can play there, as can Reyna and Hazard, or you could throw Adeyemi out there, but that's not ideal. They were linked to Madueke before, and I really like him. I haven't seen Kayky play, I'll admit that, but a loan to Dortmund could be a nice learning experience before trying to break in to the Man City first team. Then there are the two guys at Man Utd, Diallo and Pellistri. Both could use a loan to a team like Dortmund, but I do wonder if they're actually good enough. The Reinier thing went poorly, and I called that it would, as it should've been obvious given the depth in his position (AM).

It's always going to be an uphill battle for Dortmund. We all know that. At some point Bellingham will move on, Hummels and Reus will retire, and anyone too valuable will be sold to balance the books. Until that's no longer the case, I don't see the club winning anything of significance. Maybe the odd league cup. It's just the reality of the situation.