Borussia Dortmund’s Lars Ricken 'feels enthusiastic' about BVB’s transfer business

Borussia Dortmund has been hard at work compiling their squad for the coming season throughout the summer. With high-profile departures in the form of Mats Hummels. Marco Reus and more recently Niclas Füllkrug, as well as the end of the club’s loan deals for Ian Maatsen and Jadon Sancho, there have been many holes for the club to plug, both with internal solutions as well as with newcomers.

In an interview via Bild, Ricken highlighted his delight with how Dortmund has gone about restructuring this summer, and affirmed his confidence in the club’s new signings:

"I am very satisfied with the transfers and am surprised how enthusiastic I am about them. In the end, it must be said that we have all implemented the number 1 transfer targets on the respective positions."

- Lars Ricken

So far, Dortmund have brought in Serhou Guirassy, Waldemar Anton, Yan Couto and Pascal Groß, all of which bring their own qualities to the side that will be helpful throughout the season. In Guirassy, Groß, and Anton, the club has brought in experienced, Bundesliga-proven players who will be great assets in the upcoming campaign. Groß in particular had played several seasons of exceptional football for Brighton in the Premier League as well, making Julian Nagelsmann’s national team for Germany in the Euros. At 33, his experience will be invaluable to a side that, according to Ricken, should be vying for silverware this season:

"Theoretically, there are four possible titles with the championship, cup, Champions League and club world cup. We not only want to play for it, but also want to win one. That is our attitude. I can't promise a title, but I can't exclude one either."

- Lars Ricken

Ricken also spoke about “taking the next step” as a club, with Dortmund having come so close to silverware in the last two years. The signings so far, at least on paper, are certainly steps in the right direction. According to Ricken, it will be up to the players to both make sure that they are fit and ready individually to help the club take this next step, and hold each other accountable in the process:

" It is an obligation of the players to put themselves in the best possible condition. But also to make sure that the next man is also in the best possible condition."

- Lars Ricken

The strategy that Ricken, Sebastian Kehl and Sven Mislintat look to implement alongside the work of head coach Nuri Şahin this summer will be critical in terms of Dortmund’s potential for success this season. In terms of squad building in particular, there are still some holes to fill. The most recent departure of Tom Rothe has opened up the question of whether or not the club should dip back into the market for a new left back, but the plan right now according to Ricken is to rely on the in-house solutions of Ramy Bensebaini and Almugera Kabar.

"It is not a given that we have four U19 players in our squad. Now that we have sold Tom Rothe, we have decided not only to have Kabar travel with us, but he will also stay with us. It is of course a brave decision, a brave solution, but I think we have to stand by it, to give these guys this opportunity with us."

- Lars Ricken

Kabar in particular is a promising talent from Dortmund’s youth ranks, the same as Rothe, and featured in Dortmund’s test match against Villarreal this week. Both Bensebaini and Kabar showed in this game that it might be risky for Dortmund to rely on them aloneas the only options for the position, and further made the departure of Rothe even more puzzling.

Whilst Ricken’s words do back Kabar, who is indeed talented, the feeling is that the club may indeed still make a move should an opportunity present itself. Some reports indicate a loan is the most likely solution.

Kabar has not yet truly been tested with top-flight football, which may indicate that if no signings are made and Bensebaini’s form so far is anything to by, Julian Ryerson may have his work cut out for him on the left flank of the defense. It is because of this that even a loan as the aforementioned report suggests could be helpful.

The club is also working on the signing of Maximilian Beier in the background, which would indeed be a solid victory for Ricken and co. considering circumstances, nicely rounding out the transfer business he has helped to oversee in his first summer as Director of Sport. While the signs so far are good, a couple more changes are needed for Ricken’s optimism and hope for a title this year to become more a realistic expectation.