Keep or Sell, Part Three: Now we Take a Look at the Rest of Borussia Dortmund’s squad

In the first two parts of this series, we looked at all Borussia Dortmund players who have contracts expiring in the next two summers. Now we will take a look at the remainder of the squad to determine what moves BVB should look to make.

Roman Burki

Contract Expiry 2023

The Swiss goalkeeper has been with Borussia Dortmund since 2015 in the hopes that he could replace the legend, Roman Weidenfeller. Unfortunately for Burki, his season has been atrocious and to make matters worse he has lost his starting job to backup Marwin Hitz, who has just signed a 3-year extension in June. The writing is on the wall for the 30 year-old as Dortmund have been linked with several new keepers for months now. With Hitz just agreeing to an extenion, Burki appears to be the odd man out moving forward.

Verdict: Sell

Raphael Guerreiro

Contract Expiry 2023

The most underrated left back in the world, Raphael Guerreiro is an attacking genius on the left side. Having bagged 4 goals and laid on 8 assists, Guerreiro has been playing out of this world for Dortmund. Despite the fact he has missed several games due to injury, Guerreiro still leads the Bundesliga with 170 progressive passes, 11 more than Bayern’s Joshua Kimmich in second. While his defensive cover is suspect, Guerreiro more than makes up for that with his movement, dribbling, passing, and ball retention. Quite simply, Guerreiro is special and he is only 27.

Verdict: Keep and extend

Nico Schulz

Contract Expiry 2024

Despite being a regular starter for both Hoffenheim and the German National team, Nico Schulz has failed to do anything of note with Borussia Dortmund. A wing back by trade at his former club, Schulz made his living bombing down the left side of the pitch playing low crosses and cut backs for his teammates. Even when Dortmund switched to the back three under Lucien Favre, Schulz never really got a chance because Guerreiro was playing lights out. However, is it horrible to have Schulz as a backup? Who could we get to play behind Rapha that is better?

Verdict: Keep

Thomas Meunier

Contract Expiry 2024

Photo by Alexandre Simoes/Borussia Dortmund via Getty Images

The Belgian International has had a nightmare start to his Dortmund career, culminating in his calamitous error that gifted Köln a goal this past weekend. I don’t want to harp on the guy because supporters have been all over him this season, but he just needs to move on.

Verdict: Sell

Mateu Morey

Contract Expiry 2024

Spanish full back Mateu Morey has been outstanding over the last few weeks before picking up an injury against Hertha Berlin. While the young defender initially struggled when Meunier went down with injury, Morey has won over supporters with some composed displays recently. Surprisingly restored by Edin Terzic for the first leg of the Champions League match against Sevilla, the Spaniard has re-paid his coach in full and is no doubt the starter moving forward.

Verdict: Keep

Emre Can

Contract Expiry 2024

The German powerhouse has been a swiss army knife for Borussia Dortmund this season. Playing central midfield, center back, and right back, Emre Can does it all. Big, strong, and fast, Emre Can embodies a warrior spirit that BVB desperately needed when they signed him from Juventus after his loan last season. At 27, with three years to go, there is no hurry here for either side to do anything.

Verdict: Keep

Jude Bellingham

Contract Expiry 2023

The English teenager has been very impressive since his arrival in the Ruhr region. A surprise matchday 1 starter, Jude Bellingham does everything in midfield. A box-to-box nightmare for opposition, Bellingham covers the entire pitch and wins the ball back in bunches for his side. While his passing is still improving, he has been the most productive midfielder this season given the amount of minutes he has played. Having just arrived this past summer from Birmingham City, Bellingham is already just two summers away from a free, it is way too early to be thinking about selling.

Verdict: Keep and extend

Giovanni Reyna

Contract Expiry 2025

The ‘American Dream’ had a hot start to the season, but has fallen off a cliff with his performances. Unfortunately for Giovanni Reyna, the season goes past October, but his game has not. Reyna needs to play centrally but does not possess the body to play in the number 10 role currently as he is too easily pushed around. Time is on his side, and so is his contract.

Verdict: Keep

Julian Brandt

Contract Expiry 2024

When Borussia Dortmund signed Julian Brandt in 2019 from Leverkusen for only $27.5M dollars, I thought we won the lottery. Shocked that Bayern Munich or an English club did not snap him up, I was overjoyed with this signing. While his maiden season was solid, this season has been disastrous. Brandt has 3 goals and 1 assist in all competitions counting the super-cup match, only 1 assist. Reyna had 3 assists against Freiburg alone, this is not enough for a player of his caliber and difficult decisions must be made.

Verdict: Sell

Marco Reus

Contract Expiry 2023

Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images

Legend!

Verdict: Whatever the Fuck he wants

Thorgan Hazard

Contract Expiry 2024

Another exciting signing in 2019, Hazard is a consistent performer typically but injuries have plagued him this season. It’s clear that Hazard is still not up to full fitness yet, but he will get there.

Verdict: Keep

Jadon Sancho

Contract Expiry 2023

How wonderful has it been to watch Sancho over the last three seasons? What a treat we received with this prodigious talent who left Manchester City, so that he could develop and play. I wish we could keep him, but we all know he has plans to go back and showcase his talents in his home country. You can’t blame him, and he owes us nothing. I would love for Sancho to stay and want to dethrone Bayern with Haaland and Reus, but he gave it his best. No matter where he goes, I will always root for Jadon Sancho.

Verdict: Sell

Ansgar Knauff

Contract Expiry 2023

We all saw Ansgar Knauff come on late against Köln and beat his man to setup the Erling Haaland equalizer. In those ten minutes alone, Knauff created four chances, the most of the match. While it is still very early and we shouldn’t judge anything off ten minutes of top flight football, this kid looks like a future star.

Verdict: Keep and extend

Erling Haaland

Contract Expiry 2024

With his release clause not activated until next season, Erling Haaland looks set to stay, we think. The Norwegian god of goals is attracting interest from a number of big clubs who are desperate to acquire his services this summer. While I hate to lose both Haaland and Sancho in the same summer, if the offer is right we should consider selling especially if we fail to qualify for next seasons Champions League.

Verdict: Offers dictate

Steffen Tigges

Contract Expiry 2024

Everyone loves a big target man, and after his spirited display against Eintracht Braunschweig in the second round of the DFB-Pokal, Steffen Tigges was awarded a contract extension. Yet to score in 6 appearances for the first team, Tigges has bagged 16 goals and laid on 9 assists for Borussia Dortmund II. At 22 years old, he remains a prospect that BVB should keep around.

Verdict: Keep

Marius Wolf

Contract Expiry 2023

Arriving in 2018, the frequently loaned Marius Wolf has never really gotten a chance to impress for Borussia Dortmund, and has been loaned out to Hertha Berlin and Köln the past two seasons. With Thomas Meunier’s failing to hold down a spot in the starting XI, Marius Wolf looks like just the player to come in and challenge Mateu Morey on the right side. Wolf, like Emre Can seems to be a bit of a utility player in that he has played wide-midfield, wing back, and full back for all of his clubs. Bringing Wolf in after shipping out Meunier looks like the right thing to do given we probably will not be spending big this summer.

Verdict: Bring back from loan

Leonardo Balerdi

Contract Expiry 2024

A January arrival in 2019, Leonardo Balerdi started only 1 match for Die Schwarzgelben, the 4-0 loss at home to Hoffenheim to end the 2019-20 season where Balerdi was awful. On loan at Olympique de Marseille this season, Balerdi has only managed to play 17 matches in all competitions. It does not appear that the Argentine center back has a future in Dortmund, so hopefully Marseille will activate their option to buy after the loan is up.

Verdict: Sell

Your Thoughts

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