Borussia Dortmund may not have been able to inflict Champions League misery on Tottenham at Signal Iduna Park on Tuesday night, but they may still be able to give English clubs a painful summer in pursuit of their brightest talents, Lars Ricken has warned.
Ricken, Dortmund through and through since emerging from the club’s academy in 1993, going on to score in their 1997 Champions League final victory, now heads up one of the finest production lines of young talent in Europe, but says Dortmund are always on the lookout for the best and brightest prospects not getting a shot at first-team football abroad, especially in the Premier League.
The arrival of Jadon Sancho from Manchester City has sparked a wave of envious glances from fellow English youngsters.
“Would we take another Sancho from England? Of course,” Ricken told Standard Sport.
“Our scouting department, not only in Dortmund but other clubs as well, although especially in Dortmund, they are so good and professional that we know each talented player all over Europe, maybe in the world.
“We know them and we have the financial strength to buy the players as well.
“Each club wants to find their own Sancho or Pulisic. I think our supporters are very proud of players like Jadon Sancho, because he is a very young player. Each club in the world is jealous of us because we have Sancho.”
The likes of Callum Hudson-Odoi, who has played just 13 Premier League minutes at Chelsea since the closure of the January window, when he was denied a move to Bayern Munich, continue to sit on the bench in England’s top-flight, where vast sums of money have created a secondary market where canny German clubs can prosper.