Football: Borussia Dortmund are not a selling club, can flourish in post Covid-19 era, says Carsten Cramer

SINGAPROE - The coronavirus pandemic will alter the football transfer market landscape, but Borussia Dortmund managing director Carsten Cramer believes his side can retain its best players to challenge for silverware in the post Covid-19 era.

While the Bundesliga will become the first major European league to resume behind closed doors on Saturday (May 16) with Dortmund taking on Schalke in the Revierderby, there remains much uncertainty over player signings.

Many expect the outbreak to have an adverse financial effect on clubs worldwide, with Dortmund sporting director Michael Zorc predicting a dip in transfer fees and a rise in loan deals.

No wonder then that Cramer was thrilled to have completed the key signings of striker Erling Haaland and midfielder Emre Can in the January transfer window.

The former has scored 12 goals in 11 games since arriving from Red Bull Salzburg for €20 million (S$30.8 million) while the latter, who misses the game at the Signal Iduna Park stadium alongside captain Marco Reus and Axel Witsel, has also impressed with his defensive duties.

Cramer, in a conference call with global media on Wednesday, also downplayed speculation over Dortmund winger Jadon Sancho, who has 17 goals and 17 assists this season. The England international has been repeatedly linked with Premier League sides Manchester United and Chelsea.

Cramer said: "We are just four points behind (leaders) Bayern Munich, and we want to become champions this season.

"This is something we discussed with the team and the players are loving to be competitive this season and also the next season. And how can you be competitive to Bayern Munich? By not selling your best players.

"We are very ambitious, we want to be as successful as possible. We try to bind our big players for as long as possible. There is no interest to sell them.

"Even if in the last few years, we sold some of them and received good money, it's not our strategy to educate players in order to sell them as soon as possible for as much money as possible."

Hundreds of million in television revenue and sponsorship is also at stake for German clubs to finish the season even as leagues in England, Spain and Italy remain uncertain about their resumption.

Cramer dismissed talk that the Bundesliga were gaining a competitive advantage over their European rivals by being the first movers.

He said: "When we received news from Ligue 1 and the Dutch league that their governments decided to stop their leagues, we were really scared about the future of European football because if this happens to Bundesliga, Premier League, La Liga and Serie A, we would have even bigger problems talking about international competitions.

"We just focus on making our restart a success story... another very positive aspect could be this could help the other leagues restart as well. If we fail, we know this can have a negative impact on other leagues as well.

"Every game, every league that starts (again) would be a step in the right direction."