Aubameyang, Dembele and now Sancho? Why history suggests Haaland should stay put at Dortmund
Stefan Bienkowski
- Updated: 17 Jan 2022 16:17 GMT
The expression “the grass is always greener on the other side” has been used to describe wantaway footballers for decades but it’s perhaps never been so true of the young stars that learn their trade at Borussia Dortmund
For much of the club’s modern history, the Westfalen side have used their expertise to scout young players, develop them into some of Europe’s most exciting talents and then sell them for remarkable sums of money.
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Any football fan can rhyme off a handful of players that made their name at Dortmund. Mario Götze, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Ousmane Dembele and even Jadon Sancho, to name but a few. Which is why Dortmund have made €747 million from player sales over the last five years - a figure only beaten by Barclona and Juventus.
Yet, while Dortmund may be whistling to the bank after each major deal is complete, the players in question very rarely go on to bigger and better things after drawing a line under their time at the Bundesliga club.
Do Dortmund’s stars struggle after big moves?
While some former Dortmund stars - like Ilkay Gundogan at Manchester City or Robert Lewandowski at Bayern Munich - have gone on to bigger and better things, for the most part very few players manage to continue progressing or even matching the same form they showed in the black and yellow of the German club.
When we look at the form of seven attacking players that left Dortmund for big money over the past 10 years and plot their goals and assists per 90 minutes each season, we can see an unquestionable downwards trend after they leave the club.
As the graph above shows, these players can vary in age, experience and where they end up in their careers. But just about all but one of them have struggled to match the performances they put on at Dortmund and most have gone on to average a consistent poorer record since leaving the club.
The only exception here being Lewandowski, who undoubtedly went on to become an even better striker with Bayern during their unprecedented domination of the Bundesliga. But he stands out here as an outlier.
Will this happen to Haaland?
Naturally, the next Dortmund export that could join this list of struggling stars in Spain, England or elsewhere is Erling Haaland.
The Norway international has been in remarkable form since making the move to Germany and is widely expected to have his pick of a number of Europe’s biggest clubs in the summer transfer window.
Of course, most would argue that Haaland is currently showing more promise than any of the aforementioned stars bar Lewandowski and could end up being a natural successor to the Bayern striker, but that still doesn’t mean he’ll be able to continue averaging the incredible 1.46 goals and assists per 90 he’s bagging right now.
Whether Dembele, Mario Götze or Sancho regret leaving Dortmund is certainly up for debate, but there’s no denying that none of them have enjoyed the individual form and success that made them one of Europe’s brightest stars when they were playing in front of the Yellow Wall.
Haaland will have a number of things to consider ahead of the summer transfer window, but whether he’ll find a club that is so good for his game as Dortmund should be near the top of his list of priorities. And if recent history is anything to go by, it suggests the grass is usually greener at the Westfalenstadion.
