Captain Emre Can and vice-captain Julian Brandt are both on Dortmund’s list of players to be sold.
According to Bild on October 30, Dortmund is selling five players including Donyell Malen, Emre Can, Julian Brandt, Niklas Sule and Marcel Sabitzer. Can is currently the captain, Brandt is the vice-captain, Malen plays the main role of winger, Sule used to play for Bayern and the German national team, and Sabitzer used to play for Man Utd and is the captain of the Austrian national team.
Dortmund’s board of directors are disappointed with recent results. Therefore, they want to sell some old and valuable players to generate revenue and free up some salary funds to invest in young players.
Last season, Dortmund reached the Champions League final and finished fifth in the Bundesliga. But since the departure of former coach Edin Terzic, the team has struggled to maintain stability. New coach Nuri Sahin and his players have won just four, drawn one and lost three of their first eight Bundesliga games, falling to seventh, losing 2-5 to Real in the Champions League group stage, before losing 0-1 to Wolfsburg in the second round of the German Cup.
Malen was ready to leave at the end of last season, but could not find a suitable club. According to Bild, the Dutch player has just parted ways with the brokerage company SEG. If the new partner works effectively, he could leave as early as January 2025.
Captain Can, vice-captain Brandt and Sabitzer were all key players in last season’s run to the Champions League final. Dortmund could wait until the end of the season to find suitable offers for the three players.
Sule has lost his starting position recently. Therefore, the former Bayern player wants to leave early to regain his position.
Dortmund’s most recent title was the 2020-2021 German Cup won under former coach Terzic. The Westfalen team has also won eight Bundesliga titles, with the most recent being the 2011-2012 season.
Dortmund won the Champions League in 1996-1997, one of three German clubs to have won the European Cup. The other two are Bayern with six titles and Hamburg with one.