Where are they now? Borussia Dortmund’s most expensive signing of every season since 2010
Borussia Dortmund are renowned for the players they end up selling, but that’s because the Bundesliga club are brilliant at signing players – as this list of their most expensive purchases since 2010 demonstrates.
Dortmund have given some of the game’s biggest names the platform they needed to blossom, going on to invest fees received into purchasing their next big project.
We’ve checked in on their most expensive signing from every season since 2010-11 to see where they all are these days; it’s quite the list…
2010-11: Robert Lewandowski
Months after only a volcanic eruption stopped him from joining Sam Allardyce’s Blackburn Rovers, Lewandowski was whisked to Dortmund for just €4.5million – and the rest is history.
The Polish goalscoring sensation helped the club secure back-to-back Bundesliga titles and after netting a bucket load of goals, the club banked around £42.5million when selling him to Bayern Munich.
Still scoring goals today for Barcelona at 35 years old, and set to appear for his country at Euro 2024, there is little doubt that Lewandowski ranks among the best strikers of all time.
2011-12: Ilkay Gundogan
Gundogan wasn’t the finished article when Klopp picked him up from Nuremberg for €5.5million, but the German coach saw his potential and has been vindicated several times over.
“When I came to Dortmund at the age of 20, I had an adaptation problem,” Gundogan told Turkish TV channel Tivibu Spor.
“The first six months were tough for me. But Klopp helped me because he treated his players like a father figure, like a friend. He was always with me, gave me confidence. I spent five successful years with him.”
After collecting 14 trophies with Man City, becoming one of the best players in their history, the midfielder is now strutting his stuff for Barcelona.
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2012-13: Marco Reus
Signed from Borussia Monchengladbach for €17million, Reus would go on to score 169 goals and provide 130 assists in 426 appearances for Dortmund.
The midfielder announced his departure from the club at the end of the 2023-24 season in an emotional video to the fans.
His last game looks set to be the Champions League final against Real Madrid, a fitting end for one of Dortmund’s greats.
2013-14: Henrikh Mkhitaryan
Signed for a fee of €27.5million, Mkhitaryan became the club’s most expensive signing as Dortmund looked to soothe the pain of losing the Champions League final the previous May.
The Armenian playmaker managed to live up to the hype too, scoring 41 goals across three seasons before the club then sold him for a profit.
Following stints with Man Utd, Arsenal and Roma, the Armenian playmaker is still going strong for Inter Milan to this day.
The 35-year-old has chipped in with 12 goal contributions from midfield to help Simone Inzaghi’s side win the Serie A title.
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2014-15: Ciro Immobile
Klopp’s last season at Dortmund was a bit wonky, with the Bundesliga giants sleepwalking into a relegation battle before pulling themselves to mid-table safety in the spring.
Signed for €18.5million from Torino, Immobile’s time in Germany never really went according to plan and he never showed his best form in the Bundesliga.
Happily, the Italy striker has since built his reputation back up with Lazio and is still scoring goals regularly to this day.
2015-16: Gonzalo Castro
After replacing Klopp, Thomas Tuchel made Castro his most expensive signing in his first summer at Dortmund, snapping him up for €11million from rivals Bayer Leverkusen.
He only spent three fairly middling years with Dortmund, however, leaving for Stuttgart in 2018 before eventually retiring with Arminia Bielefeld in 2022.
2016-17: Ousmane Dembele
Signing Dembele for just €35million in 2016 felt like somewhat of a steal for a winger who had quietly become Europe’s most promising talents at Rennes.
With 10 goals and 21 assists from 49 games in his debut season, a star had been born – and he was whisked away from Dortmund for a whopping £97million plus add-ons in the summer of 2017, with Barcelona swiftly replacing outbound Neymar.
Dembele now finds himself at the club Neymar ditched Barcelona for, joining PSG in the summer of 2023. His return to French football has been modest thus far, but the 26-year-old often produces Ballon d’Or-worthy form when you least expect it.
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2017-18: Andriy Yarmolenko
Having been a Rumour Mill staple for much of the 2010s, Yarmolenko was eventually snapped up by Dortmund in 2017, with Dynamo Kyiv receiving €25million for the Ukraine international.
Six goals in 26 appearances was a below-average return in his only season at Dortmund, who were happy to sell the winger for €20million to West Ham.
In many ways, Yarmolenko was the archetypal Hammers signing; talented, inconsistent, often injured but delivered memorable moments such as his winners against Chelsea in 2020 and Sevilla in 2022.
Now 34, he’s back at Kyiv and will captain Ukraine at this summer’s European Championship.
2018-19: Abdou Diallo
Diallo’s performances at Mainz convinced Dortmund to bring him to the Westfalenstadion for €28million in 2018.
Tuchel, by now with PSG, was watching from afar and took defender Diallo off their hands in a €32millon deal one year later, but by 2022 he’d been loaned back to Germany with RB Leipzig, then sold a year later to Qatari side Al-Arabi.
At only 28, it’s a bit of a shame to see him head to the Middle East so soon.
2019-20: Mats Hummels
After three years at Bayern Munich, Hummels returned home to Dortmund for a fee of €30.5million in 2019.
The 35-year-old has made almost 200 appearances back at the club and is tipped to start for Germany when they host Euro 2024. He also scored the winner against PSG in the Champions League semis. Fair play.
2020-21: Jude Bellingham
Who knows?
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2021-22: Donyell Malen
After contributing to 79 goals in 116 appearances for PSV Eindhoven, Malen was snapped up by Dortmund as a replacement for Manchester United-bound Jadon Sancho.
Costing €30million, the Netherlands international has scored 33 times and provided 19 assists during his three years in Germany and has been linked with his own move to Old Trafford.
We get a feeling that Sancho might just be warning his team-mate against that.
2022-23: Sebastian Haller
After shaking off his West Ham nightmare at Ajax, Haller was the subject of a €31million move to Dortmund in the summer of 2022 only to be diagnosed with testicular cancer less than two weeks later.
The subject of an outpouring of support from across football, the striker endured chemotherapy and two lots of surgery before returning to action in February 2023.
Haller has 12 goals in 40 appearances for Dortmund and also scored the winner for Ivory Coast in the 2023 AFCON final.
2023-24: Felix Nmecha
Nmecha came through the ranks at Manchester City, but never really threatened to break into the first team and was sold to Wolfsburg in 2021.
Two productive years in the Bundesliga convinced Dortmund to splash €30million on the midfielder in 2023, although his transfer was controversial to some supporters due to past comments on social media that were regarded as homophobic and transphobic.
Nevertheless, Nmecha was enjoyed a fine debut season at the club and scored in the Champions League group stage victory at Newcastle in October 2023.