Klopp wants Dortmund to attract top players

Borussia Dortmund coach Juergen Klopp wants the club to be the ideal destination for players, rather than a stepping stone to other teams.

The German champions secured the signature of Marco Reus despite interest from Bayern Munich, and Klopp feels that signing the Borussia Moenchengladbach star could convince other players such as Mario Gotze and Mats Hummels to stay at Signal Iduna Park for the long haul.

“It would be nice if it were to have this effect, but that was not the primary goal. The names alone will not win a game, otherwise Bayern would have been champions last year,” the 44-year-old told Ruhrnachrichten.

“We want to be a club from which you don’t have to leave to have sporting success, but instead which you go to in order to have success.”

“This is incredibly difficult, but it must be the goal. We need quality.”

Klopp went on to praise Robert Lewandowski who has ousted Lucas Barrios from the first team.

“I’m a big fan of his. But at the beginning of the season, he did not always bring his best performances to the pitch. Now we’re seeing the Robert Lewandowski we had watched for two years,” he said.

“I cannot say exactly (what will happen to Barrios). A club like Borussia Dortmund must have two strikers of such quality. But I realise that we have a special situation for which there is no ideal solution.”

Borussia Dortmund resume their Bundesliga campaign with a trip to Hamburg on January 22.