The CEO of Borussia Dortmund, has announced that there will be no cut-price sales by his club in the upcoming transfer window.
Die Borussen, who currently sit on the fifth spot in the Bundesliga table, are facing serious doubts regarding European fixtures next season. As a result, most of the other European mega clubs are looking to acquire their superstars, Erling Haaland and Jadon Sancho for a nominal fee. Hans-Joachim Watzke put that idea to bed in a recent interview.
“The rich clubs in the world must know when they want a player from Borussia Dortmund there are two possibilities. The first is that I tell them they have no chance. Other times, I will tell them ‘this is the price’. We are very clear. We are very honest,”
he told BBC.
Last summer, Manchester United was heavily linked with Jadon Sancho but had to stop pursuing the English winger after asking to pay 100m euros. This year the spotlight has turned to Erling Haaland. Watzke, however, is adamant that his star striker isn’t going anywhere.
“I do get tired of it. Last summer, everybody in England, everybody in Europe, every journalist told the public ‘Jadon Sancho will play for Manchester United or wherever’.
But he is still playing for Borussia Dortmund. Now everybody writes ‘Erling Haaland will next season play for Real Madrid or for Barcelona, or for this or this.
The only way is to look after 1 September at where he is playing. I think I know where he will be playing but that is all I have to say.”
Watzke stated.
The speculation was fuelled even further after agent Mino Raiola took a journey across Spain and England last week to discuss a potential transfer for his 20-year-old client to Barcelona or Real Madrid or Manchester City or Liverpool. Watzke appeared to be confident and shared that his club has a healthy relationship with the controversial agent.
“Mino is a special guy, he wants to make the best deal for his player. That is his work. I know Mino very well. Mino knows me very well. We have no problems. Everybody knows what the other wants to do.”
the German said.
The 61-year-old, who used to be a treasurer at the club in his early days, has been lauded for his role in clearing all of Dortmund’s debts since 2005. And now that he extended his future by signing an agreement to remain at the Signal Iduna Park till 2025, Watzke has clear ideas for the future.
“Dortmund is not a club where you must have big visions because you don’t have big money, if I had money like other clubs, who can spend 1bn euros in five or 10 years on the team, then you can have visions. What I want to have for the next years is that we get the status to be one of the best 10 or 12 clubs in Europe and normally to win some titles in Germany” he asserted.
Borussia Dortmund will lock horns with Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City in the Champions League quarter-final second leg today. Interim manager Edin Terzic is expecting his players to work harder if they are to overturn the tie, which saw them trailing by just a single but crucial away goal in their 2-1 defeat at the Etihad Stadium last week.
