Can Dipping into the Transfer Market Save Dortmund's Season?

For a club that has challenged Bayern Munich for domestic supremacy over the past few years, while being one of the most exciting sides in the Champions League to say that the first half of this season has been a disappointment for Borussia Dortmund is the understatement of the year.


Injuries to key players such as Marco Reus, Mats Hummels, and Ilkay Gundogan have seriously hurt them, as of course has the loss of Robert Lewandowski to Bayern, which follows on the heels of losing Mario Gotze the year before.

There's also been the suggestion that club's in the Bundesliga have figured out manager Jurgen Klopp's tactics and have been able to soak up Dortmund's typically large amounts of possession and hit them on the break.

With the club second from the bottom, some supporters are wondering if the club will dip into their transfer budget and try to add a few players to help get them out of trouble.

After trying to address some of their creative issues in midfield with the capture of Slovenian international Kevin Kampl from Red Bull Salzburg they have already splashed out €10 million in the coming window, but is there more to follow?

Brought in last summer as replacements for Lewandowski, Italian striker Ciro Immobile and Colombian attacker Adrián Ramos have both failed to find form with Immobile only managing 3 goals in 12 appearances and Ramos scoring only 2 in 12 himself.



The temptation might be there for Klopp to go after another attacker, but to get one in January may not have the immediate impact some might hope for.

First of all, teams still involved in the Champions League are loath to sell on players in the middle of the season, so you can pretty much rule out any attackers from the bigger clubs in Europe, the same goes for clubs in fear of relegation. Even clubs in the middle of the pack across Europe will only look to move along unsettled players and even still will ask for an inflated fee.

If any players are added it'll then be a matter of integrating them into a fairly established side, which isn't alway easy.

So for Dortmund now it's a matter for considering whether or not they want to stick with what they have in their battle to move up the table, or take the plunge into the transfer market, but run the risk of not getting into the European qualifying spots anyway and having less funds to work with next summer.

There is a lot for Klopp to consider this month.