Borussia Dortmund is radically rebuilding its squad with young talents under head coach Niko Kovac. Sky Sports Football reported on Tuesday, 25 August 2026, that the club aims to recapture the exciting, counter-pressing football associated with its past under Jürgen Klopp.
The team finished the previous season as runners-up, with 64 points from 29 games. Key players like Nico Schlotterbeck, Carney Chukwuemeka and Ramy Bensebaini are currently sidelined, as shown on the injuries page. The next challenge is a home match against Hamburger SV on 29 August.
What does the new squad look like?
Sporting director Ole Book and Kovac have overseen the departure of four players this summer, including offensive contributors Karim Adeyemi and Julian Brandt. Replacing their goals is a priority. The experienced signing is 27-year-old midfielder Joey Veerman from PSV Eindhoven. Most attention, however, is on two Greek wingers: Giannis Konstantelias and 18-year-old Konstantin Karetsas. Konstantelias already made a promising substitute appearance in the Franz Beckenbauer Supercup against Bayern Munich, where Dortmund nearly overturned a two-goal deficit.
Despite the youth movement, the experienced spine featuring the goalkeeper, a centre-back, and a midfielder remains. Julian Ryerson is one such experienced Norwegian. Expectations are high for the new attacking players, as detailed in the current squad overview.
What has Kovac achieved so far?
Kovac took over in late January 2025 with the club in the wrong half of the Bundesliga table. European qualification seemed a distant prospect. "Imagine what happened when we hired him one-and-a-half years ago," said CEO Carsten Cramer. "We were in regions we never should be and he brought us to the Champions League." Kovac switched from a back four to a back five after a few games and focused on improving the players' physical capacities.
In his first half-season (2024/25), he led the club to a fourth-place finish, 25 points behind Bayern Munich. In the completed 2025/26 campaign, Dortmund finished second, cutting the gap to 16 points. The team scored 60 goals while conceding 29.
Can Dortmund close the gap to Bayern?
Bayern Munich's dominance was broken by Bayer Leverkusen in 2024, but the Bavarians are again the benchmark. The final standings show a 12-point deficit from last season. Kovac has been realistic, stating that a lot must happen for Dortmund to close the gap, including Bayern not playing at their top level. His tactical brand is sometimes viewed as less defined than peers like Bayern's Vincent Kompany, but Kovac has experimented, for example with inverting his wing-backs.
"Overall, we are mixing a good team," the coach said. The plan is clear: through a blend of youth and experience, the old BVB spirit should return on the training ground and in front of the Yellow Wall at Signal Iduna Park. The full standings from last season highlight the upward trend. Whether the path succeeds will be seen in the coming weeks, as the new offensive talents must prove their quality.
