How did Borussia Dortmund become a factory for talent?

Head Coach Jurgen Klopp of Borussia Dortmund goes up to collected his runners-up medal after losing the UEFA Champions League final match against FC Bayern Muenchen at Wembley Stadium on May 25, 2013 in London, United Kingdom.

(May 24, 2013 - Source: Alex Livesey/Getty Images Europe)

Brief history

If we focus on merely achievements and numbers, Borussia Dortmund is undoubtedly one of the most famous football clubs in the whole of Europe, and the club has a remarkable reputation of having astounding numbers during their matches.

According to the club’s website, Borussia Dortmund stands for intensity, authenticity, cohesion and ambition. The club has a special place in the hearts of the club’s fans who have remained profoundly loyal in all the good, bad and ugly times for more than a century.

The club was founded in 1909 in the German city of Dortmund in the North Rhine-Westphalia region. In football talk, the club is commonly known with the abbreviation: “BvB”, which ultimately stands for Ballspielverein Borussia or in English "Borussia club for ball games." The full name is BV Borussia 1909 EV Dortmund and is definitely one of Germany’s most decorated clubs that will always be talked about for generations to come.

The club has managed to grab eight national titles, three DFB-Porkals, a Cup Winners’ Cup and an unforgettable Champions League win in 1997. Borussia Dortmund is famous for producing world-class talents like Marco Reus, Ousmane Dembele and Christian Pulisic.

In 2003, the club fell into a financial predicament in the aftermath of excessive spending om expensive players in the transfer market. The club received financial support from arch-rivals Bayern Munich which gave them $2 million euros for paying players’ salaries. However, within a year, the club managed to repay the loan. Having gone through several challenges off and on pitch, supporters started to resent the team’s performances and were calling-out for change.

In 2008, they hired one of the most prominent managers of all times in European football named Jurgen Klopp who is the current coach of Liverpool Football Club. After making a good name for himself at Mainz, he had become the first choice for the club. Under his leadership, the first few seasons were average but eventually, Klopp, as he has come to be affectionately known, pushed the squad to incredible winning ways. He implemented a high pressing counter-attacking style which was described as heavy metal football and the club went on to take the Bundesliga title in the 2010 and the 2011 seasons.

Youssoufa Moukoko of Dortmund in action during the B Juniors Bundesliga match between Borussia Dortmund and FC Viktoria Koeln on August 19, 2017 in Dortmund, Germany.

(Aug. 18, 2017 - Source: Lukas Schulze/Bongarts)

Talent development

BvB takes pride in engaging youthful players and developing them to become world-class players. The end of 2019 saw the club fashionably sign a young teenager in Erling Haaland, a Norwegian who is originally from the Netherlands. In his January 2020 Bundesliga debut, the young superstar came from the bench to score a hat-trick in what has become one of Borussia Dortmund’s greatest ever comebacks in history.

The business model of recruiting raw, young talent and to nurture them into becoming superstars has become BvB’s best philosophy over the years. Since the unimpressive bankruptcy that the club experienced in 2005, in the aftermath of overspending, the executives of the club changed the strategy of recruitment. The Black and Yellow has become the best finishing school for young footballers in the entire world. In today's times, there is nowhere else in the world that a highly promising player in their late teens can go and so reliably be molded into a superstar. The smartest players, parents, and agents are aware of this notion. The youth co-ordinator for Borussia Dortmund Youth Academy explicitly stated that, “the biggest advantage at BvB is that we offer the greatest gift that young boys are looking for and it is the chance to play.” The main goal of the youth academy is to raise players that will qualify to become world-class players. The young players are kept in good shape as they are blessed with boarding facilities, healthy diets, great living conditions, and exceptional education. In the mornings, the young players go to school and later on they can carry on with proper training which does not necessarily exhaust the body’s performance.

Professionalism is a key factor at the multi-talent factory as they reach high limits in training. Their mentality is flooded with ‘winning’ it is ever so evident in the players’ performances on the pitch. For a young player, there is nothing like Dortmund City which is inundated with black and yellow colors everywhere and the training ground optimizes it. The players are graded into simple age groups namely, 12-15 years where they focus on technique, and 17-19 years where they focus on winning strategy and tactics.

The club sees training young players as a culture and the coaches are passionate to develop talent as a way of investment for the club. That is what distinguishes BVB from other clubs in Germany and in many parts of the world.

The role of Jurgen Klopp in promoting young talent

In the aftermath of bankruptcy in 2005 and not being able to pay hefty salaries of the players they had bought, performances needed a lot to be desired. In 2008, they roped in a profoundly unique coach in Klopp and under his leadership the club would revamp their youth production line, paying handsome dividends culminating in a Champions League final appearance in 2013. It was the same year in which the current Liverpool manager handed debuts to six academy products.

The German-born manager implemented an attacking football style that has its foundations in Dortmund youth, which is now being emulated by Europe’s big spenders to this day. It is said by BVB's youth coordinator that during games for the young players, their focus is not necessarily on winning though it's important, but on putting in a performance that is satisfying. At the end of each game, the young lads at the youth camp are given a sheet to fill, rate their performances and lay down their overall thoughts on how they can become better.

The youth lads are not only trained on the pitch but off the pitch with programs orchestrated to enhance their confidence in life, which inevitably plays a vital role on the pitch. There is a cultural activity done every quarter of the year that they participate in and an example is when BVB made them act out a play in English in front of 300 people. It is the kind of pressure that they have to overcome in order to play in front of 80,000 people at the Signal Iduna Park.

“A model born out of necessity and desperation has since become a hugely profitable business model for the club. In the last three years alone, Dortmund has raked in £427 million from transfers”

— Farai Maringa, FirstTouch Africa

Ousmane Dembele of Dortmund runs with the ball during the friendly match between Wuppertaler SV and Borussia Dortmund at Stadion Zoo on July 9, 2016 in Wuppertal, Germany.

(July 8, 2016 - Source: Christof Koepsel/Bongarts)

Dortmund’s successful youth products

Generally, it is obvious that of all the young players that get in the club youth camp, only a handful will make it to the top level but this is a different with BVB as they developed a reputation of being master craftsmen. The development of youthful talent has boosted the financial position of the club as they have had remarkable sales of talents over the years. One of the most incredible sales they pushed was the over €100-million sale of Ousmane Dembele to Barcelona. Dortmund have carefully put themselves in a position of attracting Europe’s elite and developing them to become renowned world-class players. Below is some of the top talents to emerge from Dortmund in recent memory.

1. Ousmane Dembele

Popularly known as the dribble king, his talents were clear to see even while he was still at a tender age at Rennes. But it was Dortmund who shrewdly signed the teenager for a mere €8 million in 2016. The Frenchman enjoyed a wonderful debut season in the Bundesliga, which attracted the attention of Barcelona, who were desperate to sign a new winger following the shock departure of Neymar for Paris Saint-Germain in the summer of 2017. Regardless of a troubled exit from Signal Iduna Park, Dembele still netted BVB a remarkable profit, with Barcelona agreeing to pay an initial €105m fee with the potential for a further €40m in add-ons.

2. Pierre- Emerick Aubameyang

The Gabonese starlet was given one of the toughest of jobs when he came to Dortmund in 2013. He played alongside Robert Lewandowski in his debut season at Signal Iduna Park and it was an incredibly rich show. However, when Robert decided to leave for arch rivals Bayern Munich, this meant the onus fell on Auba to become the center of the BVB attack, almost all on his own. Remarkably, he pulled it off, with a whopping 141 goals in 213 games making him one of Europe's elite strikers. He eventually left for the English Premier League, joining Arsenal for €62m which represented a massive return on the estimated €13m they had acquired him for from St. Etienne in 2013.

3. Ilkay Gundogan

The Germany midfielder Ilkay Gundogan ran the Dortmund midfield for five seasons between 2011 and 2016, having joined on a cut-price of €5.5m deal from Nurnberg when he was just 20. Manchester City was absolutely impressed with his gameplay and came to sign him in 2016. Dortmund pocketed €22.1m as profit from the sale of the striker and at his current club, he has won two English Premier League Championships, an FA Cup and two Carabao Cups.

Julian Weigl of Dortmund celebrates with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Dortmund (r) after he scored his teams sixth goal to make it 6:1 during the Bundesliga match between Borussia Dortmund and Borussia Moenchengladbach at Signal Iduna Park on September 23, 2017 in Dortmund, Germany.

(Sept. 22, 2017 - Source: Lars Baron/Bongarts)

4. Shinji Kagawa

Shinji was plucked from his native Japan for a mere €350,000 in 2010, with Dortmund taking advantage of a clause that allowed him to leave Cerezo Osaka on a cut-price deal should a European club come knocking. The attacking midfielder quickly became a fan favorite at Signal Iduna Park, scoring at a rate of just under a goal every two games and helped BVB to the Bundesliga title in each of his two seasons in Germany. Manchester United was delighted by his style of play and pulled out £17m from their billfold to secure his services. Dortmund were sorry to see him leave but happy with their substantial market gain. Just two years later after an unsuccessful spell at Old Trafford, Dortmund were able to re-sign Kagawa for just €8m.

5. Christian Pulisic

Christian Pulisic is one of Dortmund’s latest and arguably greatest transfer success story. The versatile American attacker was picked up at the tender age of 16 and quickly forced his way into the first teams of both his club and his country. In signing for Chelsea, Pulisic became Dortmund's second-biggest sale of all time, after Dembele. Dortmund sold him to Chelsea for £58m.

6. Mario Gotze

A product of the club's youth system, Gotze cost the club nothing and quickly became a teenage sensation. In 2013 the attacking midfielder decided to depart after Bayern Munich triggered the €37 million release clause in his contract. The lad is most famous for scoring the winning goal for Germany in the 2014 World Cup final in Brazil but through a combination of form and fitness issues, he never settled at the Allianz Arena and returned to Signal Iduna Park for €22m in 2016, admitting that he regretted ever leaving.

7. Sokratis Papastathopoulos

The Greek international’s sale proved another good investment when he chose to move to Arsenal. The defender starred for five years at BVB's camp, forming a remarkable partnership with Hummels to establish himself as a top-class center-half. Arsenal decided to move for the Greek and paid BVB approximately €15.9m meaning more money for the club.

8. Henrikh Mkhitaryan

The Armenian playmaker arrived in Dortmund in the year 2013 coming from Ukraine’s Shakhtar Donetsk. He was phenomenal in attacking midfield. Three outstanding seasons in the Bundesliga earned Mkhitaryan a €41.8m move to Manchester United, and the Black and Yellow got another healthy profit on their initial investment. He later moved to Arsenal where he played delightful football alongside a former BVB player in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang before being signed by Roma on loan.

Mario Gotze of Borussia Dortmund and Shinji Kagawa of Borussia Dortmund battle for possession during a Borussia Dortmund training session ahead of the UEFA Champions League Group H match against Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley Stadium on September 12, 2017 in London, England.

(Sept. 11, 2017 - Source: Alex Pantling/Getty Images Europe)

9. Mats Hummels

In the case of Mats Hummels, Bayern Munich's loss turned out to be an infinite gain for their arch-rivals BVB. The defender was not playing extremely well as a youngster for Die Roten and was shoved off to Borussia Dortmund in 2008 for a dirt-cheap fee of just €4m. Investment in Hummels was worthwhile as he became the chief cornerstone of the Dortmund defense system. He assisted the club in acquiring two consecutive league wins, also helping them to a Champions League final in the 2012-13 season. Hummels also got his hands on the 2014 World Cup trophy with Germany before Bayern Munich came to buy him out of BVB for €35m though later returning home to Signal Iduna Park.

10. Matthias Ginter

Props go to Borussia Dortmund for the exceedingly great eye for talent. BVB discovered Matthias Ginter when he was just 20 and they got him for just €10m from Freiburg prior to the 2014-15 season. He became a master in the Dortmund defense for three years, playing more than 100 games before he was allowed to leave for Borussia Monchengladbach. BVB cleared made a healthy profit of €7m on the center-back when they released him.

Out of necessity and desperation to profound success

Jurgen Klopp the manager of Borussia Dortmund speaks with Mats Hummels of Borussia Dortmund prior to kickoff during UEFA Champions League Group D match between Galatasaray and Borussia Dortmund at Turk Telekom Arena on October 22, 2014 in Istanbul, Turkey.

(Oct. 21, 2014 - Source: Lars Baron/Getty Images Europe)

Borussia Dortmund has now built one of the most admired structures in Europe as they continue to develop young stars that grow up to become world-class players. Borussia Dortmund manages their young prodigies with familial care. They are in regular dialogue with the parents of Sancho, for instance, and with the FA about the footballing development. In the 2019/20 season, the average age of Dortmund’s team has been 25.4 - three years younger than Bayern Munich, and almost a whole year younger than any of the 20 Premier League clubs, according to Football Observatory.

Dortmund’s business model is to essentially identify the world’s best young players, nurture them and give them game-time they would have been denied elsewhere, and then sell them on for a huge profit. Wild over-spending in the past led to the club almost becoming bankrupt and it's from that unhealthy experience that encouraged the club’s executives to look at different ways and focus on talent development to avoid excessive and unnecessary costs.

Huge credit goes to Jurgen Klopp as he spearheaded the model when he arrived from a second-division side called Mainz. The Dortmund website shows that the club stopped looking at seasoned, mid-market pros and instead concentrate their efforts on identifying "young high-potentials" who are just beginning of their careers, hungry for game time, willing to learn and crucially, much less of a burden on the balance sheet. In the 2007-08 season, the average age of new recruits had been just over 27 years. Twelve months later, it was reduced to 23.5 years and it went only further down from there, hovering between 22 and 23 over the following decade.

A model born out of necessity and desperation has since become a hugely profitable business model for the club. In the last three years alone, Dortmund has raked in £427 million from transfers, including £105m for Ousmane Dembele (Barcelona), £62m for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal) and £58m for Christian Pulisic (Chelsea), the latest high-profile departure.

Truth is Dortmund would rather keep their best players to become the best club in Europe but selling some great players is in acceptance of economic reality. When players start getting demand from other big clubs such as Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Bayern Munich, they are offered profoundly higher wages and as such a decision to leave by these players will be inevitable so they can earn what they deserve.

Parting Word

All factors remaining constant, Borussia Dortmund will soon be able to pay their players enough to keep them in the long term, then win titles and make a tremendous impact in European Football. The club will need to continue developing worthy talent in the academy, scouting, signing up-and-coming stars and consistently reaching the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League. Their ability to develop young talent will always be talked about for several years!