By once again directly qualifying for the UEFA Champions League, the club again has the opportunity to consolidate its standing as one of Europe’s top teams and to once more share in the profits distributed for participating in the lucrative competition.
Borussia Dortmund’s approach to its squad is one of continuity, but it also has an eye to creating new momentum and structures in its personnel choices. In December 2020, Borussia Dortmund parted ways with Lucien Favre, its head coach of two-and-a-half years. His erstwhile assistant coach Edin Terzic then led the team to victory in the DFB Cup and qualification for the UEFA Champions League. From the 2021/2022 season, Marco Rose from Bundesliga rivals Borussia Mönchengladbach will take over as the new head coach at Borussia Dortmund. Marco Rose is a team player, and the club wants him to guide Borussia Dortmund back to playing its trademark modern, attacking and up-front style of football.
Edin Terzic has extended his contract through to 30 June 2025 and will be filling the newly created position of technical director. Going forward, he will play a permanent part in planning the roster, win over promising players for Borussia Dortmund, act as a go-between for the Youth Academy, support players on loan, and report directly to the sporting management, Michael Zorc and Sebastian Kehl. Borussia Dortmund looks forward to the momentum this will create.
The contract with head of the professional squad Sebastian Kehl was extended early until 30 June 2025. He will take over from Michael Zorc as sporting director from 1 July 2022. Borussia Dortmund also extended the contract with its youth academy coordinator Lars Ricken early until 30 June 2025. This long-term focus at level of sporting management offers Borussia Dortmund a solid basis for planning and gives those in positions of responsibility the opportunity to keep building on the strong and trusting relationships they already enjoy and to unlock the potential for improvement that is there to see.
The team coalesced and found its strength in the final third of the 2020/2021 season and delivered consistent and solid performances to qualify for the UEFA Champions League and win the DFB Cup. The team has truly enormous potential, and the challenge now is to tap into this over the entire season. By signing Gregor Kobel, Borussia Dortmund has gained a communicative and vocal goalkeeper who never failed to put in a strong performance in the past Bundesliga season, whether in goal, in the penalty box or in passing play. He will further stabilise the team’s defence. The healthy mix of grit, leadership and young ambition in the squad as well as consistency in its management is expected to help the team unlock its full potential and achieve the greatest possible success on the pitch.
Borussia Dortmund has an excellent team, a fact that is not lost on other top European clubs. Accordingly, there is always the possibility of lucrative transfers.
Borussia Dortmund sees further potential in its youth setup, where it lays the foundation for its sporting success. To this end, the club added new offices for the sports management team at the Brackel training ground. This investment will help to further consolidate all the areas under the direction of the Sports department. Borussia Dortmund hopes the direct proximity to the training ground will help it work with greater efficiency and purpose and further optimise its pipeline of talented youngsters for the senior team. In the past season, Youssoufa Moukoko, Ansgar Knauff and Steffen Tigges, another three of the club’s youth standouts, made the jump to the senior side and helped the team with their youthful exuberance. Other talented youngsters are also set to make the senior team.
Borussia Dortmund maintains close and longstanding partnerships with its sponsors. During times of crises, this continuity was also a reflection of the close and trusting relationships. This is also evident from the individual solutions that Borussia Dortmund has found with its partners to compensate for cancelled (hospitality) services. The majority of (hospitality) services that Borussia Dortmund was unable to render due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic were compensated for by means of other (advertising) services, meaning that Borussia Dortmund’s partners have asserted practically no compensation claims. These good relationships built on trust and the solidarity displayed during crises also provide planning security.
Borussia Dortmund also believes it has good opportunities to adequately replace sponsoring agreements that are set to expire by leveraging its appeal to sign lucrative new contracts.
For Borussia Dortmund, the potential return of at least some spectators to SIGNAL IDUNA PARK in the 2021/2022 season is a massive opportunity, in particular to interact directly with fans. Since personal contact has been severely restricted during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, communicating digitally with fans continues to be more important than ever. New digital formats were and will be created for this reason. This increased focus on digital communications affords us the opportunity to strengthen the bonds our fans have with the club despite not being able to attend matches, and to grow Borussia Dortmund’s fan base. This includes the 2021 Virtual Summer Tour, with Borussia Dortmund making virtual stops in nine countries across three continents between 10 and 18 July 2021 to bring the club even closer to and connect with its international fan communities and partners and give all fans (not just) from the nine participating countries the chance to immerse themselves in the world of Borussia Dortmund.