# Bundesliga: What is Borussia Dortmund’s strategy with respect to player development? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** football-soccer-fifa\ **Created:** [April 1, 2021, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bundesliga-what-is-borussia-dortmund-s-strategy-with-respect-to-player-development/939153 "2021-04-01T13:16:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2021, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bundesliga-what-is-borussia-dortmund-s-strategy-with-respect-to-player-development/939153/1 "2021-04-01T13:16:13Z")
This is a club that continues to piss me off. I just read that Haaland’s agent is in Barcelona to discuss a possible transfer. They find these amazingly talented players at young ages, develop them into world class stars, and then sell them to the highest bidder. I love the team’s colors (perhaps because they are the same as the Pittsburgh Steelers), and purchased a Pulisic jersey about a year before he was moved to Chelsea. I almost purchased a Sancho jersey, except there are constant talks about him moving to an English club. Reyna and Haaland are on my list, but who knows when they’ll both go. Is the club’s objective to win, or simply make the most money? ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2021, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bundesliga-what-is-borussia-dortmund-s-strategy-with-respect-to-player-development/939153/2 "2021-04-01T13:26:22Z")
> [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > They find these amazingly talented players at young ages, develop them into world class stars, and then sell them to the highest bidder. That’s kind of how the soccer market works for most teams aside from the very few super rich clubs. Dortmund themselves bought Haaland for 20mil Euros from Red Bull Salzburg a year or so ago. So to turn him for 140mil Euros or so is quite a nice profit. They can use that money to buy more young players. Not to mention the players have a massive say in the matter. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2021, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bundesliga-what-is-borussia-dortmund-s-strategy-with-respect-to-player-development/939153/3 "2021-04-01T13:27:29Z")
Dortmund’s goal is to be a successful as they can without significantly increasing new debt. So it’s not just receiving a nice transfer fee they are interested in, it’s not having a massive contract for someone. This is a couple of years old, but it still an amazing list of players that I’ve sent along. > **[The incredible XI you can make from players sold by Borussia Dortmund -...](https://www.planetfootball.com/quick-reads/the-incredible-xi-you-can-make-from-players-sold-by-borussia-dortmund/)** > > Borussia Dortmund have helped develop some of the best players in Europe over the past decade - but many have been enticed away to other clubs. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2021, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bundesliga-what-is-borussia-dortmund-s-strategy-with-respect-to-player-development/939153/4 "2021-04-01T17:20:03Z")
I suppose the financial aspects and debt preferences are what they are, but the fact is that they haven’t won any major trophies. So I guess I question if they have the correct definition of success in mind (at least from the perspective of their large and dedicated fan base). ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2021, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bundesliga-what-is-borussia-dortmund-s-strategy-with-respect-to-player-development/939153/5 "2021-04-01T18:47:25Z")
They do to Champions League pretty often. And most fans realize this is how the business of soccer works. If they didn’t they could just vote in a new board (as in Germany, 50+1 of each club is reserved for the fans - well, with very very few obvious exceptions). ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2021, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bundesliga-what-is-borussia-dortmund-s-strategy-with-respect-to-player-development/939153/6 "2021-04-01T20:12:29Z")
> [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > I suppose the financial aspects and debt preferences are what they are, but the fact is that they haven’t won any major trophies Granted, it’s been some time, but they won the Champions League in 1997 (and lost the final against Bayern in 2013). They also won the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup in 1966 and thus were the first German club to win a European cup ever, before Bayern. They are no slouches. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2021, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bundesliga-what-is-borussia-dortmund-s-strategy-with-respect-to-player-development/939153/7 "2021-04-01T20:27:25Z")
And they are also [listed](https://www.comdirect.de/inf/aktien/detail/chart.html?REQUESTED_REDIRECT=STOCK&ID_NOTATION=144434#timeSpan=SE&e&) on the German Stock Exchange, which brings certain constrains, more related to accounting than to trophies. Which they knew when they went public.