Predicting Borussia Dortmund's First XI After the Close of the Transfer Window

Borussia Dortmund return to domestic action this weekend following the international break with a home tie against SC Freiburg at the Westfalenstadion on Saturday. 

Coach Jurgen Klopp will have plenty of work to do over the course of the squad's training sessions this week, with a whole roster of international players to pick and choose from. 

Such is the luxury of a manager who was able to bring in no less than five first-team players over the summer transfer window to battle it out with an already impressive starting XI. Klopp now has plenty of options throughout his squad as he hopes to push on for a further Bundesliga title. 

As such, with the first international break of the season out of the way and the summer transfer window gone for another year, it's time to now take a look at this bolstered squad and pick a starting side. 

Note

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Although this article is intended to be related to the specific period of time after the German transfer window has shut, we will not be making any of the selections based on injuries that may have occurred over the past few days. 

The purpose of this is to essentially pick a starting first team of Dortmund players from a hypothetical situation whereby all the players available to Jurgen Klopp are miraculously playing at full fitness. 

Rather than a selection of players available to the Dortmund coach at this moment in time, it is instead a theoretical roster of the best possible starting XI that this club could put out in any given game. 

We will be using the classic 4-2-3-1 formation that Klopp has tended to stick with throughout his time at the Bundesliga club. Although this varies from time to time, often looking like a 4-4-2 in some games, it is primarily the tried and trusted method behind Klopp's madness. 

Goalkeeper: Roman Weidenfeller

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The position of goalkeeper is perhaps one of the more obvious selections within this squad for Klopp, having had the expertise of Roman Weidfenfeller between the posts for quite some time. 

The coach does have alternatives in his squad—most notably young Australian international Mitchell Langerak or even 23-year-old Zlatan Alomerovic—but in truth it would take a desperate situation for Klopp to pick anyone besides his trusted first-choice keeper. 

Left-Back: Erik Durm

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Left-back is a position that should prove rather interesting for Klopp and Dortmund fans this season.

On one hand we have the experienced Marcel Schmelzer, who has proved himself to be a useful addition to the team for the past few seasons, as well as being Dortmund's only left-footed defender capable of playing as an accomplished full-back.

Yet the man who will undoubtedly be getting more game time this season is young Erik Durm, the new first-choice left-back for both Dortmund and now Germany. There is certainly still a lot of raw, untrained qualities to Durm, but in essence he looks to be a player with the potential to be a very good left-back. Which is exactly why he'll be Klopp's preferred option. 

Right-Back: Lukasz Piszczek

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Like Weidenfeller in goal, Lukasz Piszczek has made the position of right-back his and his alone during his time at Dortmund, and as such Klopp has made little effort to find anyone capable of challenging the Polish international. 

The closest the club have to a replacement is squad player Kevin Grosskreutz—an attacking midfielder by trade until called upon to fill in elsewhere—meaning that Piszczek is certainly the solid favourite to keep his spot on the right of defence this season. 

Centre-Backs: Neven Subotic and Mats Hummels

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One of the most impressive aspects of Klopp's summer activities was his capturing young Matthias Ginter from Freiburg while managing to keep hold of defensive talents Mats Hummels and Sokratis Papastathopoulos. 

As such, the manager now has four strong options for just two central defensive positions in the squad. 

Sokratis has looked excellent this season alongside Neven Subotic in Hummels' injured absence, yet if all four players were perfectly fit then there's no doubt that Klopp would remain loyal to his old partnership. For now, Hummels and Subotic keep their spots as first-choice centre-backs at Dortmund. 

Central Midfielders

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Central midfield is another area within the Dortmund squad that has certainly begun to crowd up over the past 12 months. 

Alongside tried and tested talents such as Sebastian Kehl, Oliver Kirch and Nuri Sahin, Klopp can also call upon the young, exciting talents of Sven Bender, Milos Jojic and of course star player Ilkay Gundogan. 

Injuries have hit most of these players hard at one point or another over the past 12 months, justifying Klopp's necessity to have so many options for just two spots in his starting XI. 

Yet if all were fit and ready to play today there's no doubt that the Dortmund coach would be playing Sahin and Gundogan at the base of his midfield, with Bender and then Kehl as the backup options. 

Central Attacking Midfielder: Henrikh Mkhitaryan

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Until very recently, the position of central attacking midfielder was actually rather poorly equipped for an entire season across multiple campaigns and tournaments. Klopp essentially had one man to play the position: Henrikh Mkhitaryan. 

Now that has changed with the signing of Shinji Kagawa, which now means the Dortmund coach has two players who could quite feasibly thrive in such an important attacking position. 

Kagawa will undoubtedly have his day once again under Klopp, but for now the Armenian playmaker looks to keep his role as the key link between midfield and attack. 

Left-Winger: Marco Reus

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On the left of Dortmund's attack we have the unquestionable talent of Marco Reus, one of the most talented players in the Bundesliga and undoubtedly the best player at Dortmund today. 

The German international has of late been plagued with injury, meaning we're likely to see others such as Kagawa move into the position in his absence, yet the role of left-winger will always belong to Reus as long as he's fit and able to perform. 

Right-Winger: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

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One position that seems almost too close to call in this squad is the role of right-winger in Dortmund's attack. 

At first glance, it would seem as though Klopp will almost certainly stick with Gabon striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang—as long as he keeps up a run of form that so often eluded him last season—with other players such as Jakub Błaszczykowski and Grosskreutz waiting on the sidelines. 

Klopp may also be tempted to stick Kagawa on the right if his form returns to him, but for now we should expect to see Aubameyang keep his first-team spot. 

Striker: Adrian Ramos

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Another position with a whole host of options and alternative approaches for Klopp to play with this season is that of the lone striker.

We saw the club bring in Ciro Immobile from Torino as well as Hertha Berlin's Adrian Ramos over the summer to join the returning Ji Dong-won, who had in turn spent last season on loan. 

However, the battle for supremacy in this position looks to be between the former two signings, with Ramos having a slight edge over his Italian counterpart having already proven himself in the league. 

We will undoubtedly see all three start a number of games over the course of the season, but for now it looks as though he powerful Colombian striker may well be Klopp's preferance.