Top 10 BVB January Signings
The January transfer window provides clubs with the chance to reassess and reinforce their squads at the halfway stage of the season.
Players recruited in the winter window can often be the perfect additions to propel a club’s season in the right direction.
Sometimes that one player can transform a team’s entire campaign.
Borussia Dortmund have had such luck in the past with some of their January signings.
In this current window, the club delved into the English market.
Chelsea’s Ian Maatsen joined BVB on loan, alongside returning ‘Borusse’ hero Jadon Sancho from Manchester United.
Jadon Sancho's return to Borussia Dortmund has dominated the headlines, but it's a #CFC loanee who is making more of a splash.@honigstein hails the 'incredible impact' of Ian Maatsen so far on @TheTotallyShow this week.. pic.twitter.com/STtpBzIY6x
— The Athletic | Football (@TheAthleticFC) January 28, 2024
Both players have impressed in their opening appearances.
Last year’s window saw Julian Ryerson and Julien Duranville arrive.
While the jury remains out on how they are regarded by the Yellow Wall, it doesn’t appear that they’ll follow the fates of some of the Black and Yellows’ failed January recruits, such as Leonardo Balerdi and Alexander Isak.
Instead, they will be hoping that their Dortmund careers will pan out in a similar fashion to those of the following list:
Manuel Akanji
In January 2018, a 22-year-old Manuel Akanji joined ‘die Schwarzgelben’ as one of Europe’s most promising young defenders.
Arriving from Basel for a reported €21.5m, the Switzerland international went on to play over 150 times for the club.
While injuries and form throughout his last year at Signal Iduna Park tarnished his legacy somewhat, it can’t be denied that Akanji was a great servant to the club and an ever-present.
Since moving on to Manchester City in 2022, the 28-year-old has only further proved his quality, as a dependable defender in Pep Guardiola’s treble-winning squad.
Mats Hummels
The love triangle involving Mats Hummels, Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich has been a hot topic in many Bundesliga transfer windows.
But it was an 18-month loan move to North Rhine-Westphalia in January 2008 when Hummels first saw where his heart truly belonged.
The German’s form throughout that initial spell saw Jürgen Klopp make the move permanent.
In Klopp’s golden era squad, Hummels was a stalwart at the back. He is continuing to show his class at 35 years old to this day, where he ranks second in BVB’s all-time appearance rankings with 491 to his name.
Emre Can
Like Hummels, Emre Can joined ‘die Borussen’ initially on loan in January before making the move permanent in the summer.
The German arrived from Juventus in 2020 and soon established himself as a true leader in the dressing room and a valuable squad member.
Carrying Bundesliga experience from spells with Bayern and Bayer Leverkusen, Can’s €25m move appears shrewd business with the 30-year-old having been named club captain last summer.
Jens Lehmann
Controversially, former Schalke 04 and AC Milan goalkeeper Jens Lehmann joined the Black and Yellows in January 1999.
The German played 179 times for Dortmund, helping the club to a Bundesliga title and UEFA Cup final in 2002.
He went on to be a part of the famous ‘Invincibles’ side with Arsenal two years later, cementing his status as one of the game’s greatest ‘keepers.
Tomas Rosicky
In January 2001, ‘die Schwarzgelben’ broke the Bundesliga transfer record to bring in Sparta Prague’s Tomas Rosicky.
Nicknamed ‘Little Mozart’, the Czech Republic international played 189 times in black and yellow, scoring 24 times while setting up 47 goals.
The playmaker was a key part in the club’s 2002 title-winning side.
Rosicky enjoyed a fruitful five and a half year stay at Signal Iduna Park before moving on to Arsenal in 2006, where he would spend the next decade.
https://twitter.com/ChampionsLeague/status/1180040081119293440
Sebastian Kehl
A year after Rosicky became a ‘Borusse’, Sebastian Kehl arrived at Borussia Dortmund, signing for a little over €3m from Freiburg.
The defensive midfielder made just 12 appearances before he was crowned a German champion after just five months at the club.
Kehl’s role in the BVB squad only grew more significant as time went by; he would play 39 times in the club’s double-winning 2011/12 campaign, and nine times on the way to the 2013 Champions League final.
Club captain for six years during that golden era, the current director of football left in 2015 after 362 appearances.
Erling Haaland
Perhaps the most famous January signing for Dortmund in recent times, Erling Haaland arrived in 2020 with the world at his feet.
Having garnered a worldwide wonderkid reputation in little time at RB Salzburg, the then 19-year-old was a freak of nature.
Given the way he started his time at Signal Iduna Park, it was no secret why.
A debut hat-trick against Augsburg was followed by consecutive braces against Cologne and Union Berlin.
This was the most prolific goalscoring form any Bundesliga newbie had produced, with Haaland breaking record after record.
The Norwegian’s eventual tally of 86 goals and 23 assists in 89 games made the €20m fee paid in January 2020 look like a huge bargain.
He has gone on to achieve even more at Manchester City.
Matthias Sammer
One of Borussia Dortmund’s all-time greats was a January signing.
Matthias Sammer arrived in January 1993 from Inter Milan and the five years that followed were nothing short of exceptional.
After scoring 10 times from defensive midfield in just his first half-season at the club, Sammer went on to be *the* key man in Ottmar Hitzfeld’s famous BVB side.
Operating in a sweeper or ‘libero’ role, the German helped the club to successive Bundesliga titles in 1995 and 1996, before captaining ‘die Schwarzgelben’ to their first, and only (to date), Champions League crown in 1997.
In those league-winning years, Sammer was named Footballer of the Year in Germany in each, while his 1996 European Championships triumph with the national team also helped him to the Ballon d’Or.
After retiring early, he even went on to manage the club; he was in charge when Dortmund were crowned champions in 2002.
Suffice to say, BVB have had their fair share of success in the winter window.
