It has been two years since Borussia Dortmund entered the final day of the Bundesliga campaign in first place, only to draw 2-2 to Mainz and cough up a golden opportunity to end their long-awaited title drought. It has been one year since Dortmund reached the biggest stage in club football, only to lose 2-0 to Real Madrid. Today, however, BVB find themselves in peril of missing out on the Champions League for the first time in 11 years.
Whilst BVB have climbed to sixth place in the table following a promising run of form that has seen them win four and draw at Bayern Münich, they nevertheless face an uphill battle as they look to return to Europe's premier competition. With three matches left, Dortmund sit one point behind RB Leipzig and three behind Freiburg, who occupy the final Champions League spot.
There are multiple reasons why Dortmund's form have taken a turn for the worse, from a lack of a tactical identity to an unfulfilling transfer window to the failed appointment of Nuri Sahin. However, one of the biggest reasons has been the decline of various individual performers, such as Emre Can, Marcel Sabitzer, and Julian Brandt. Arguably, no player has suffered a bigger decline than Gregor Kobel.
Similar to many other players, like Remo Freuler, Ramon Vega, and Arijanet Muric, Kobel developed at the academy of Grasshopper Club Zürich before eventually departing Switzerland for Germany and joining Hoffenheim on loan in 2014. He spent six years on Hoffenheim's payroll, the latter two being spent on loan at Augsburg and Stuttgart, before moving to Stuttgart on a permanent deal in 2020.
The Swiss goalkeeper emerged as one of the Bundesliga's top shot-stoppers with the sixth-most saves per game (3.2) in the league, enough for Borussia Dortmund to splurge €15 million to sign him in 2021. Kobel quickly grabbed the starting role ahead of his compatriots Marwin Hitz and Roman Burki and inserted himself as a vital cog between the sticks over the next few years, racking up 11 clean sheets and 2.88 goals prevented in the Bundesliga in 2022/23.
The following season would see Kobel consolidate himself as one of the top goalkeepers on the entire continent, with 4.71 goals prevented in the Bundesliga, with the Zurich native playing a fundamental role in their run to the UEFA Champions League Final. Kobel kept the most clean sheets (6) in the Champions League, boasted the second-highest save percentage (82.1%) behind Inter's Yan Sommer (86.2%), and registered the most saves (46) in the entire competition. He also prevented 5.9 goals, well ahead of Benfica's Anatoliy Trubin (3.6) in second place.
After becoming the first Swiss goalkeeper to reach a Champions League Final, Kobel spent the summer as the backup choice in the European Championship, only to gain the starting spot following Sommer's international retirement. But rather than build on his momentum and demonstrate why last season was not a mere flash in the pan, Kobel has taken a step back in his performances.
His save percentage in the Bundesliga has dropped from 71% to 62%, whilst he has also decreased from 3.23 saves per 90 to 2.52 saves per 90. Consider this: Kobel faced more shots in 2023/24 than 2024/25, 453 to 407, whilst he also faced more expected goals against (43.6 to 36.5). And yet, Kobel has conceded 11 more goals this season with three matches remaining.
Kobel signed a contract extension in October 2023 to extend his time in Dortmund through 2028, stating his desire to win trophies. However, BVB's dreams of silverware are drifting further and further away into the horizon, and it's why Kobel could be tempted to move on this summer even if BVB do somehow pull off a miraculous qualification to the Champions League.
At 27 years of age, Kobel still has plenty of years left in his prime, and on his day, he can be an elite-level goalkeeper capable of laying out and getting his body to a shot and who also has the vision and footwork to distribute the ball forward. It's why more than a few clubs like Chelsea have shown interest in prying the shot-stopper away from BVB.
Since the start of August 2024, Borussia Dortmund have sold Niclas Füllkrug to West Ham for £27 million as well as Donyell Malen to Aston Villa for £21 million. Could Kobel be the next player to leave BVB for the Premier League in exchange for an eight-digit transfer fee?