It was not meant to end this way.
Sporting director Sebastian Kehl parted ways with Borussia Dortmund effective immediately on Sunday, March 22, ahead of the March international break. He had been at the club in a managerial role since 2018 but became the club’s new sporting director in 2022, replacing the legendary Michael Zorc. Given Zorc had been Dortmund’s sporting director since 2005 and oversaw their rise from the brink of financial ruin to their re-establishment as one of the Bundesliga’s top
clubs to the peak of the Jürgen Klopp era, Kehl had large shoes to fill.
At first, it seemed Kehl started with a bang. His first summer in charge of Dortmund’s transfers saw him sign sought after prospect Karim Adeyemi, rising Bundesliga star Nico Schlotterbeck, well known Bundesliga quantity Sebastién Haller, and, most significantly of all, he had secured Niklas Süle on a free transfer from bitter rivals Bayern Munich. It was these transfers that saw Germany so impressed by Dortmund’s business and saw Hoeness asked about their main competitor’s transfer business. His response? “Second place is secured.”
That ultimately turned out to be the case in a wild 2022/23 season. A wild title fight nearly saw the title go to Dortmund before it all slipped through their fingers in the final moments. Though Dortmund would try again and again to wrestle the title from Bayern, they would stagnate in their efforts and fall further behind every year. The year after the title fight, they would finish as low as 5th, qualifying for the Champions League just because of UEFA’s new qualifying rules. The poor league campaign was dismissed because of their run to the UCL final, but when Dortmund slumped into the bottom half of the table under Nuri Şahin around January of 2025. It took an incredible effort by new manager Niko Kovač to drag Germany’s second biggest club into fourth and qualify for the UCL again.
While the club’s league form took a nosedive, so did the transfers. That incredible summer of transfer business would turn out to be not so great after all. Adeyemi shows spurts of form and genuine class at far too infrequent rates, Sebastién Haller was a nightmare signing through no fault of either party due to testicular cancer and Niklas Süle, made the club’s highest earner upon joining from Bayern, missed far too many games as questions over his fitness remain; he will leave the club on a free transfer at the end of the 2026/27 season. Solely Nico Schlotterbeck has turned into a clear success, becoming one of the best center backs in the Bundesliga and a leader for the club. But he seems to be running down his contract due to his dissatisfaction with the club’s project.
Because said project is going nowhere at the time of writing. It was not just the summer of 2022 that ended up a bust. Though there were some good to great signings in the following years- the likes of Felix Nmecha, Niklas Füllkrug and Serhou Guirassy come to mind- there were far too many flops, inconsistencies and questions about the fit of certain transfers. What were the plans for Marcel Sabitzer, Yan Couto, Maximilian Beier, Jobe Bellingham, Charney Chukwuemeka? Why was Ian Maatsen signed with no option to buy? Why are Dortmund going to Chelsea again and again for transfers? How embarrassing was it that Dortmund lost Aaron Anselmino to a call back clause in his contract and were left with no idea how to react? Is Dortmund done signing top young players? Why are there reports that they are going to try and sign Jadon Sancho for the FOURTH time in the upcoming summer?
These iffy transfer decisions combined with dwindling form and inconsistent decision have all lead to serious criticism about Kehl. But there may be one more reason Kehl was let go. In the above announcement of Kehl’s departure, Dortmund’s director of sport, Lars Ricken, specified that the club believes that “this summer is the right time to make changes”. Chief among those changes, one would assume, would be to bring in an outsider for a fresh perspective.
Dortmund’s desire to ensure all the employees have a history with Die Schwarzgelben is no secret. Zorc, for example, was at Dortmund for 20 years before he was hired as sporting director. Ricken played nearly 20 years for Dortmund as well. Dortmund’s president, Hans-Joachim Watzke, has been at the club for around 25 years now. Dortmund CEO Kehl had played 748 games for Dortmund as a player. Şahin also has a significant Dortmund history. That is just the tip of the iceberg, too. Seemingly everybody in a relevant position at the club has a Dortmund history. Generally, it is seen as a good thing for a team to have so many former players on board. But is that perhaps too much of a good thing? After all, Dortmund only recovered from Şahin’s struggles due to a complete outsider in Kovač. He made some tough decisions and saw results. Perhaps there are not enough new perspectives.
Bayern are a prime example that perhaps bringing in new people is a good thing. Bayern alumni Hasan Salihamidžić and Oliver Kahn were brought in to fill the Director of Sport and CEO at the club, respectively, but were fired after the tumultuous 20222/23 season. In came Max Eberl and Christoph Freund (though Bayern did keep things in-house for the CEO appointment). Both are far less connected to Bayern but arrived having done many years of good work at their previous clubs. Despite friction and serious disagreements, both have helped steer the club back on to the right track. Perhaps Dortmund need their own Eberl and Freund? Even if it causes more friction, an outside perspective could help the club find itself again better than people of the club’s past can.
Regardless of how Dortmund look to replace Kehl, Ricken was telling the truth when he spoke of a summer of changes. Not only is Kehl leaving the club, but Süle, Salih Özcan and Julian Brandt are all leaving at the end of their contracts in the summer. It will be exciting to see how Dortmund react to all these changes.
