Dortmund's Perfect Start and a Candid Sancho Verdict
Lars Ricken didn’t raise his voice. He didn’t need to. Borussia Dortmund’s sporting managing director let the table do most of the talking – and then added a small, pointed line aimed at Bayern Munich.
Dortmund have opened the season flawlessly and sit two points ahead of the serial champions. That alone shifts the mood in the Bundesliga. Ricken used that moment with Bild to underline respect, but also to twist the knife just a little.
"There is a very respectful relationship between the two clubs. Nevertheless, in recent years we have not given Bayern the feeling that a declaration of intent had to go out to them either," said the 50-year-old.
The respect is there. The rivalry is alive. And this time, Dortmund have started by looking down the table, not up.
Ricken admitted the sight of Bayern trailing brings a certain satisfaction: "But I do not want to conceal the fact that I hope they are a little annoyed," he explained. He knows exactly what the standings look like: "We know the table and they are currently not where they think they belong. If that feeling prevails, I would be pleased."
No war of words. Just a gentle reminder that, for once, the pressure is not all on Dortmund.
Elversberg coach Wagner, heart on the sleeve in black and yellow
While Dortmund are busy setting the early pace, one of the league’s newest coaches has quietly revealed where his football heart has always been.
Vincent Wagner is making waves with SV Elversberg in the Bundesliga. Yet when he looks back, the colours that shaped him are clear. Speaking to Bild, the 33-year-old admitted he has been a Borussia Dortmund fan since the mid-90s.
"Now I have to watch what I say. I have been a Borussia Dortmund fan since the 1995/1996 season," Wagner said.
The admission comes with a smile, but also with a firm sense of where he stands right now. "But at the moment I still lack the imagination to one day be standing there on the touchline. I am happy at SV Elversberg and glad that I am allowed to be a Bundesliga coach - because I love my job."
His coaching blueprint draws from two of the game’s defining figures – and it’s no coincidence both have deep Dortmund ties or history with the club.
"I try to have my teams play football in a holistic way. The intensity and passion of Klopp paired with the tactical understanding and meticulousness of Pep Guardiola," Wagner explained.
Intensity, passion, meticulous detail – in other words, traits that have long shaped Dortmund’s identity and the Bundesliga’s modern era.
Kaba steps back onto the pitch – and BVB breathe a little easier
Away from the spotlight of the first team, a small but significant story played out in Dortmund’s reserves.
Mussa Kaba, one of BVB’s promising midfielders, finally returned to competitive action after half a year out. The 17-year-old started for the U23s in a 3-2 win over Rödinghausen and played the first half – a long-awaited step after months of frustration.
Physical growth spurts and the resulting muscle problems had sidelined him since March. Dortmund’s staff opted for a cautious build-up, choosing patience over risk. Now, the first reward is on the board: minutes, rhythm, and a matchday feeling again.
Alongside Enzo Duarte, another youngster recently back from injury, Kaba collected important game time with the reserves. Coach Daniel Rios made the priority crystal clear: fitness first.
"Now it is about Mussa and Enzo getting minutes and getting into rhythm. There is always coordination with the professional department," Rios stressed.
For a club that lives off its academy pipeline, these 45 minutes matter. Not for headlines. For the future.
Why Sancho stayed away – Ricken draws a hard line
The biggest name around Dortmund this summer didn’t even need a club to dominate the rumour mill. Jadon Sancho, unattached and adored in Dortmund, was constantly linked with a second return. The story almost wrote itself.
Dortmund didn’t follow it.
Ricken has now laid out why. The decision was not about nostalgia. It was about control – over the squad, over the narrative, and over the development of the next wave of talent.
"To a certain extent it was important to me to bring in new faces, new stories, new figures for identification," he emphasised.
Sancho, in his view, is simply too big a presence to be anything but central. "Jadon has that kind of force," Ricken said. Even if he played fewer minutes, the Englishman’s name would have overshadowed everything. "Jadon would be our only topic," he feared.
That kind of gravitational pull comes with a price. It would have triggered a chain reaction through the squad.
"As a consequence, you would then have to look: do you sell a Fabio Silva?" Ricken asked.
Planned signings would have been thrown into doubt: "Can you then only bring in Karetsas and not Konstantelias?"
And the knock-on effect wouldn’t stop with the first team. The club’s own youngsters, the next generation Dortmund pride themselves on, would have felt the squeeze.
"We have young players like Inacio or Mathis Albert. Do you then have to sell or loan them out?" Ricken pointed out.
In the end, the answer inside the club was clear. No Sancho. No short-term romance at the expense of long-term structure.
Dortmund have chosen their path: new faces, protected prospects, and a squad built to grow rather than revolve around a single star. They’ve started the season perfect, Bayern are looking up at them, and the noise around a Sancho comeback has been shut down.
Now the question is simple: can this version of BVB turn early-season satisfaction into something Bayern really have to worry about in May?
