5 Players Borussia Dortmund Sold Too Soon
Borussia Dortmund's rise back to the top after almost tumbling into administration a decade ago has a lot to do with the decisions of two men: CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke and sporting director Michael Zorc.
They were responsible for the hiring of Jurgen Klopp, obviously the most important step in Dortmund's resurgence, and of his successor, Thomas Tuchel, who is overseeing a very impressive campaign for the Black and Yellows.
Watzke and Zorc are also largely responsible for the club's transfer business, which has been shrewd overall. However, they are not infallible. They certainly misjudged some players' qualities or didn't have enough patience with academy products.
With that in mind, let's take a look at five players the club sold too soon.
Dortmund were forced to sell or let go of some of their best players in the last few years, so don't expect to see the likes of Shinji Kagawa or Mario Gotze on this list.
Jeremy Dudziak
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We kick things off with one of the most recent sales Dortmund made. Jeremy Dudziak came to the club as a 15-year-old and played for BVB's youth teams before becoming an important part of the under-23 outfit that played in Germany's third division until the end of last season.
A technically gifted left-footed player, Dudziak was supposed to be the heir apparent to Marcel Schmelzer at left-back. Once Tuchel took over in the summer, however, things changed quickly.
As ESPN FC's Stefan Buczko relayed from a Tuchel press conference on Twitter, a talk between coach and player ultimately led to his sale to FC St. Pauli: "Tuchel asked Jeremy Dudziak 'What's your best position?' Dudziak said '10.' Tuchel: 'Why?' Dudziak: 'Because I can dribble past players.'"
Tuchel concluded that the 20-year-old isn't a true defender in terms of his mindset and character.
Considering the full-backs' high positioning on the field and Dortmund's focus on possession, however, one could argue Dudziak would've felt right at home in Tuchel's system. Schmelzer's back-up, 28-year-old Park Joo-ho, is nothing more than a stopgap and has so far failed to make a mark.
Dudziak isn't lost forever, though, with Dortmund having secured themselves a repurchase option, according to the club's website.
Koray Gunter
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The next player on our list shares a somewhat similar fate with Dudziak. Koray Gunter joined the Black and Yellows youth ranks aged 14 and worked his way through the academy to the cusp of the first team. The centre-back was also a regular for the under-23 team in the third division until his sale to Galatasaray in January 2014.
Dortmund got a good deal, selling Gunter for €2.5 million, according to Transfermarkt, but considering Matthias Ginter's struggles at centre-half in the 2014/15 season, one could argue they should have given the homegrown player more of a chance.
To make matters worse, Gunter hasn't enjoyed a great time with the Turkish giants so far. The player many expected to develop into a long-time starter for Dortmund has been lucky to make the bench this season, having only appeared in one of Galatasaray's 19 matches across all competitions.
It's a classic case of what could've been.
Daniel Ginczek
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Continuing our theme of young players Dortmund perhaps should've been more patient with, No. 3 on our list is Daniel Ginczek. The 24-year-old never appeared in a competitive match for the Black and Yellows despite impressing with 28 goals in 66 games for the under-23 outfit, for whom he first played aged just 17.
Ginczek spent a season on loan at VfL Bochum and then a year with St. Pauli before finally being sold to FC Nurnberg for just €1.5 million, according to Transfermarkt.
Injuries have been Ginczek's biggest problem since leaving Dortmund—he's currently out with a slipped disk, as ESPN FC's Ben Gladwell reported—but he still found his way to the Bundesliga, where he now plays for VfB Stuttgart. He helped keep the Swabians up with seven goals in the last nine matchdays of last season.
Dortmund's back-up striker situtation has been a mess since they had Lucas Barrios backing up Robert Lewandowski until 2012. The Black and Yellows paid a lot of money for the likes of Julian Schieber, Ciro Immobile and Adrian Ramos to back up or even replace Lewandowski, but they all largely failed, with only Ramos still at the club.
Considering Ginczek's development—despite his injuries—the Black and Yellows would have been better off holding onto a player they had in their system for many years.
Kevin Kampl
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Kevin Kampl joined Dortmund in the winter transfer window of the 2014/15 campaign and left the club just eight months later for Bayer Leverkusen.
The Slovenia international probably failed with the Black and Yellows because he was laden with expectation. After Dortmund's horrendous first half of the season, fans and perhaps even decision-makers thought the player who had impressed with Red Bull Salzburg in the Austrian league and UEFA Europa League would become some sort of saviour.
In truth, Kampl disappointed more often than he convinced, failing to find the net in any of his 19 appearances for the club and looking strangely out of place most of the time.
The low point of his time with the Black and Yellows was the semi-final of the DFB-Pokal, in which the then-24-year-old entered the pitch as a sub in the 83rd minute, only to get sent off for a second bookable offence in extra time.
Back playing for his mentor, Roger Schmidt, at Leverkusen, however, Kampl is blossoming again. Maybe he's a case of a player who needs a certain environment—or system—in order to play well, but Dortmund could well come to rue sending him away so quickly.
As Fox Soccer's Ross Dunbar tweeted during Leverkusen's last match against Schalke, "It's a real pity that Kampl didn't really do it at Dortmund."
Ivan Perisic
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Taking the top spot on our list is the player Dortmund misjudged the most. Ivan Perisic joined the Black and Yellows from Club Brugge in 2011 for €5.5 million—a lot of money for the club at the time.
The winger, who came to the Bundesliga on the back of an impressive season in Belgium, where he was the leading goalscorer and player of the year in 2010/11, proved he was worth the investment after a somewhat slow start, scoring seven in the club's second championship season in a row.
The arrival of Marco Reus in the following summer, however, relegated Perisic to the bench a number of times. Klopp seemingly wasn't satisfied with the Croat's defensive contribution and thus sanctioned his departure to VfL Wolfsburg in the winter window of the 2012/13 season.
Perisic went on to be on of the Wolves' top performers, scoring 21 goals and assisting 17 more in 88 appearances across all competitions and was one of the major reasons the Wolves won the DFB-Pokal last year—beating his old club in the final.
The 26-year-old's €16 million-rated move to Inter Milan, according to Transfermarkt, in the summer is perhaps the best sign of his development since leaving Dortmund. If given a chance, the Black and Yellows wouldn't hesitate to take a mulligan.
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