Borussia Dortmund Is Not The 'Department Store Of The West'

Hans-Joachim Watzke revealed that Dortmund's stars will not be sold, nor does he expect them to be tempted by moves abroad.
Borussia Dortmund have had a near-record setting Bundesliga campaign thus far, and many players among the Ruhr side's ranks have gained attention from Europe's elite clubs. In recent weeks, Roman Weidenfeller, Neven Subotic, Mats Hummels, Nuri Sahin, Mario Goetze, Shinji Kagawa and Lucas Barrios have all been linked with elite clubs in England and Spain. Even coach Juergen Klopp was tipped to replace Roy Hodgson at Liverpool before he flatly rejected a move.

Now, in an interview with Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke has announced that his club will not allow any stars to leave, claiming that his team cannot be bought out.

"If one signs with us until 2016 as did Sven Bender recently, or 2014 as did Neven Subotic and Mario Goetze, then the guys know they will receive from us a comprehensive set of humane treatment and a very passionate football environment," he said.

"But you also must know that they have to actually stay until their contracts end. We are not the department store of the west."

Watzke added that he believes few of his players would want to leave the place where they development their talents. In particular, he cited the case of Mats Hummels, who has recently rejected all talks of returning to Bayern Munich, even though such a move would offer more money.

"Mats knows where he became a national player, and he knows that where he has been, he might not have expected as much. We play a lot of bright young men," Watzke added. Hummels' current deal is set to expire in 2013, but BvB will be keen to extend his agreement beforehand.

The CEO went on to praise coach Klopp, who he feels is the cornerstone to Dortmund's recent success.

"The coach is the fundamental building block. Ottmar Hitzfeld had a fundamentally different way of working with us in a completely different time, but he was just working with the present environment. Juergen Klopp is the best coach for us. It is impossible that he will leave at the end of his contract or that I will fire him."

In November, Klopp signed a contract extension that will see him remain at Dortmund until 2014.