Borussia Dortmund’s media department posted pictures of Dortmund Airport on social media on Wednesday. You can see the BVB professionals and coach Edin Terzic signing autographs for fans before they get on the plane to the training camp in Marbella. It can be assumed that some followers did not recognize two people from the entourage because they themselves are still too young to have consciously experienced Nuri Sahin and Sven Bender. Sahin and Bender left BVB in 2018 and 2017 respectively.
Now they have returned and are supposed to help Terzic as assistant coach to lead the team out of the crisis. To strengthen the squad, they are also relying on a former player in Dortmund: Jadon Sancho. The Englishman is said to be on his way. It is certain that the loan deal with Manchester United will come about and the 23-year-old professional will return for six months.
It would be the homecoming of a prodigal son. The highly talented Sancho played for BVB from 2017 to 2021. Here he matured into an absolute top player and a national player. His record over the four years is impressive. In 137 competitive games he scored 50 goals and provided 65 assists. He was so good that he moved to Manchester United for 85 million euros. It was the second highest transfer fee in the club’s history.
Sancho should fill the void that he himself left in the winger position (usually on the left). His successors Karim Adeyemi and Donyell Malen have not been convincing enough. Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, who is also highly talented, is too young to be a real support for the team. Sancho should help strengthen the weak offensive.
There are still a lot of ifs and buts. Sancho never really took off at Manchester United. Most recently he got into trouble with coach Eric ten Hak, who kicked him out of the team. Sancho hasn’t played a game in four months. He had previously lost his place in the national team due to poor performances. Nevertheless, at BVB they are relying on the return effect, just like with Sahin and Bender.
There is an urgent need for action: After a very weak first half of the season, BVB is currently in fifth place in the Bundesliga, 15 points behind leaders Bayer Leverkusen. For Dortmund it is currently about turning the trend around, taking advantage of the good starting position in the Champions League and securing qualification for the premier class again next season.
The upcoming Sancho deal seems sensible because it is relatively risk-free and can be a win-win situation for both sides. For Sancho it’s about his career. If he wants to find a new club in the summer (or stay in Dortmund), he has to offer himself. At the same time, BVB is not taking any financial risk. According to the English media, the overall package for the loan deal should be less than five million euros. Should Sancho repeat his previous form, he would be a real bargain.
But his possible return will not be enough to get the serious structural problems of the squad under control, some of which are too weak. Sports director Sebastian Kehl wants to make further transfers in order to correct his failed transfer policy from the summer. Sahin and Bender are supposed to support the coach in order to repair the damaged relationship with parts of the team. But that is the biggest problem they have in Dortmund: the coach and sports director are ailing. It remains at least questionable whether two assistants can help. And also whether Sancho can use his old qualities in a team in crisis.
Sources: “kicker”, “Sportbild”
