Borussia Dortmund Were Right to Sell Jakub Blaszczykowski but Will Miss Him

On Monday, Borussia Dortmund officially announced the fourth departure of this summer's transfer window, with winger Jakub Blaszczykowski leaving the club for VfL Wolfsburg.

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VfL have secured the services of Jakub Blaszczykowski from @BVB. Kuba has signed a deal with VfL until 2019. pic.twitter.com/BYorCT7Tjn

— VfL Wolfsburg EN (@VfLWolfsburg_EN) August 1, 2016"

It's clearly a different case compared to the earlier transfers of  Ilkay Gundogan, Mats Hummels and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, seeing as the 30-year-old Poland international didn't feature in head coach Thomas Tuchel's plans for next season, but the loss of Kuba, as fans lovingly call him, will still be felt.

Hailed as Little Figo by Poland legend Zbigniew Boniek upon his arrival in Germany in 2007, per the club's official website, Blaszczykowski became a key figure throughout the Jurgen Klopp era at the club.

He went on to win two Bundesliga titles and the DFB-Pokal while also starting 10 matches in the Black and Yellows' magical UEFA Champions League run that ended in a heartbreaking loss against Bayern Munich at Wembley in 2013.

Martin Meissner/Associated Press

His club career hit a snag when he tore his anterior cruciate ligament just six minutes into the second half of the 2013/14 season. It turned out to be a lost year for the midfielder, who only returned to the pitch in December following a muscle injury that further complicated his recovery. He never looked quite the same in a disappointing season for the club.

Two more injuries cost him important time in pre-season after the coaching change, and subsequently Blaszczykowski never even made the squad in eight competitive matches under Tuchel before a loan move to Fiorentina on the last day of 2015's summer transfer window.

In an interview with Spox.com (via ESPN FC's Raphael Honigstein), the Pole "hinted that he felt he hadn't been given a proper opportunity to prove himself" after making the move to Tuscany.

Early returns on his loan deal were positive, as La Gazzetta dello Sport (via Raffaele) rated him as the summer's best transfer in October:

However, injuries again took their toll, with Blaszczykowski appearing in 20 matches overall for La Viola. The club had the option to buy the winger for a relatively modest €6 million, according to Matteo Dovellini of La Repubblica (link in Italian), but didn't execute it, which opened a door for his return to Dortmund this season.

When he then starred for his country at Euro 2016, many fans hoped for a revival at the Westfalenstadion. Per Honigstein, he "unexpectedly emerged as his country's most effective player at the competition, scoring a goal each to help Poland to wins over Ukraine and Switzerland."

Even though he became a tragic hero after missing the decisive penalty in a quarter-final shootout against eventual winners Portugal, the Euros showed that there's still some gas left in Kuba's tank.

It was fairly obvious, though, that he would have to prove that elsewhere, with Dortmund's officials giving non-committal answers when asked about the Pole's future, as noted by LFC Podden's Viktor Fagerstrom:

"We will evaluate the situation and discuss things with the player after this campaign is over," Tuchel said in a press conference in May.

Monday's news hardly came as a surprise given BVB's rather bloated squad and Blaszczykowski's somewhat questionable fit in Tuchel's possession-oriented system. Wingers are not required to provide width and cross the ball into the penalty box—that job is reserved for the full-backs.

Dortmund's wingers focus much more on half-spaces and are generally inclined to move inside to generate a threat on goal. The 30-year-old is more of a traditional winger, which is why he was surplus to Tuchel's requirements last year.

The only spot in which he might have had a future at the Westfalenstadion would have been as back-up wing-back, where his friend and Poland team-mate Lukasz Piszczek is the only natural option at the moment, with versatile Germany international Erik Durm suffering from near-constant knee problems over the last year.

PATRIK STOLLARZ/Getty Images

However, Dortmund may not even play a system with three central defenders all that often in the coming months—they arguably look a bit too thin at centre-back for that to be a regular thing—which would likely have pushed Blaszczykowski out of the matchday squad more often than not.

That, of course, would not befit a player of his quality at this stage in his career, so a transfer was the right decision for everyone involved. 

Chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke said that the 30-year-old "deserved to be a real Borussia man," in the club's official statement, adding that "he is a really good person whom we will always feel close to."

Previously, Watzke had told local paper WAZ that the club would comply with the Pole's transfer request and facilitate the transfer from a financial standpoint, which explains why Blaszczykowski was let go for a mere €5 million, according to Kicker (links in German).

Dortmund presumably could have waited and tried to recoup more of the exorbitant €30 million fee they paid the Wolves for Andre Schurrle, per Transfermarkt (link in German), but chose to do the right thing and honour the wishes of a merited player.

Overall, the transfer certainly makes sense. That doesn't mean, though, that Dortmund won't miss Blaszczykowski.

Though relatively quiet, the winger was a much-respected personality in the locker room, a player who proved that leading by example is more than a cliche.

Moreover, he was a fan favourite due to his industrious, no-nonsense attitude—honest work is still the best way to win the hearts of the Westfalenstadion faithful. Dortmund cherish their working-class roots, and players such as Blaszczykowski personified that feeling.

CHRISTOF STACHE/Getty Images

So did Kevin Grosskreutz, another player who left the club quickly after Tuchel's arrival, or Neven Subotic, who would have joined Middlesbrough this summer had he not failed his medical, per Anthony Vickers of the Teesside Gazette.

The exodus of these players, stalwarts of the Klopp era, indicate a changing of the guard at Dortmund and the evolution of the club, as did, in a way, the second consecutive pre-season trip to Asia in July.

There's a certain sense of estrangement in the relationship between fans and their club.

Dortmund's marketing claim "real love" aptly described that relationship for years, but there are some notable cracks. Fans weren't happy the club travelled to China in the summer, and they had similar feelings about a training camp in Dubai in January.

Blaszczykowski's transfer is only a small piece to that puzzle but one that shouldn't be overlooked. He was one of only a few players the majority of the fanbase could identify with, and his departure once again proves there's little room for romance in modern football.

Lars Pollmann also writes for YellowWallPod.com. You can follow him on Twitter.