Six brilliant Dortmund transfers funded by Dembele sale with change to spare

Quick Reads

Planet Football
17th May 2020

Borussia Dortmund have generally had to sell some of their star players over the years, but they have mastered the art of reinvesting that money wisely.

Ousmane Dembele is one of the more recent examples, but while the winger has blown hot and cold since joining Barcelona for €145million in 2017, Dortmund have developed into one of the most exciting teams in Europe.

We’ve picked out six impressive transfers covered by the fee received for Dembele, and that’s without mentioning the big fees received afterwards for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Christian Pulisic, as well as the profits made on Abdou Diallo and Paco Alcacer.

Jadon Sancho

An obvious place to start. Sancho left Manchester City to join Dortmund for €8.7million in the same summer Dembele moved to Barcelona.

In the period since, Sancho has scored 27 goals and provided 33 assists in the Bundesliga; Dembele has scored 12 goals and provided 12 assists in La Liga.

Thorgan Hazard

A more recent signing; despite being on the books at Chelsea alongside his brother Eden Hazard, Thorgan caught the eye on loan at Borussia Monchengladbach.

The attacking midfielder spent four years at Gladbach after converting his loan move into a permanent stay before joining Dortmund in a €25.5million deal in the summer of 2019.

Dortmund have plenty of options in attack, but Hazard has impressed with six goals and 11 assists in the Bundesliga this term. Only three players in the entire league have provided more assists.

Game. Set. Match. Dortmund.

3-0, Thorgan Hazard finishes off the counter. Brandt with his second assist. What an attacking force. pic.twitter.com/QSdjwixUGh

— LDN (@LDNFootbalI) May 16, 2020

Julian Brandt

Signed on the same day as Hazard in a €25million deal from Bayer Leverkusen, Brandt was famously the player Jurgen Klopp wanted to sign for Liverpool ahead of Mo Salah.

While the Germany international hasn’t quite exploded in the same way as Salah, Brandt has settled in nicely at Dortmund, contributing seven goals and seven assists in all competitions in his debut season at the club to date.

Mats Hummels

Possibly the least sexy signing on this list was actually the most expensive, with the €38million Dortmund paid to re-sign Hummels from Bayern Munich making the centre-back the most expensive player in BVB’s history.

While fans get most excited about the host of young attacking talent at Dortmund’s disposal, Hummels provides some much needed experience in defence. Prior to the return of the Bundesliga this weekend, the 31-year-old had the fourth most ball recoveries in the Bundesliga this season.

Emre Can

After failing to establish himself among Juventus’ small army of midfielders, Can returned to the Bundesliga in January, having initially made his name in the competition with Bayer Leverkusen.

Dortmund paid €25million to sign the former Liverpool man, and while he has made just six appearances to date, fans will hope the goal on his full debut is a sign of things to come.

Hey remember when Emre Can did an absolute madness before quarantine? pic.twitter.com/r7tICNTRNI

— Phil Baki (@bakiavelli) May 11, 2020

Erling Braut Haaland

Where else to finish? Even if Haaland doesn’t stick around at Dortmund for the long haul, the club are going to make a hefty profit on the €22.5million they spent on signing the striker from RB Salzburg, and he’ll leave having posted some absolutely ridiculous numbers.

Dembele sale: €145million
Combined cost of six players: €144.7million