Dortmund assess Sahin struggles

Borussia Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke believes Nuri Sahin has struggled at Real Madrid because he is undervalued at the La Liga giants.

The Turkish international left the Westfalenstadion at the end of last season, but has had limited game time under Jose Mourinho, a frustration which has not been helped by a troublesome knee injury.

Dortmund did not want to lose Sahin, although the side have received a recent boost by the news that the highly coveted Mario Goetze is looking to stay at the club, and Watzke is adamant star players staying in Dortmund will be a common theme of the future.

“The tendency to go to Bayern Munich has not been around for the past two years,” Watzke told Der Westen.

“We have seen this through contract extensions, as with that of Mats Hummels. The players know that we are an ambitious club in which the individual is very much appreciated.”

“With us, ever player is fully integrated with his strengths and weaknesses. You can see in the example of Nuri Sahin what a player is capable of in the right environment. In another environment, he finds it much more difficult.”

Watzke then moved on to talk about Dortmund’s strengths and compared his side to direct rivals, Bayern Munich.

“BVB have no specific weakness but there is a disadvantage. Bayern, with whom we have a respectful, cooperative relationship have been successful for 40 years. The club name occupies the entire city in which they now have no more competition,” he added.

“In the last five years, Bayern have only been champions twice but they keep coming back.”