Borussia Dortmund had shown interest in Michael Olise before Bayern Munich move in the summer

Sport Bild (via @bvbnewsblog) reports that Borussia Dortmund were interested in signing winger Michael Olise from Crystal Palace in the summer before he eventually moved to Bayern Munich. 

It is said that Dortmund had enquired about a transfer and explored all avenues and options before ultimately deciding that Olise was too expensive.

The French international could then move to the Allianz Arena for a fee of €53m, while Dortmund were left with Karim Adeyemi and Donyell Malen as their options on the wing. Malen is said to be sold in the summer for around €25m as he has regularly been pushing to leave the club for a while now.

Since moving to Bayern, Olise has hit the ground running scoring seven and assisting three in 15 games. The return of Leroy Sané to fitness has meant that the 22-year-old has experienced a quieter spell recently as the German international receives more game time. 

This story does highlight some of Dortmund’s recent issues. The club has been reluctant to spend money on players who could drastically improve the team in certain areas, partially due to their previous experience of doing which nearly resulted in them going bust in the early 2000s. But from a money point of view, times have changed and the likelihood of Dortmund going bust again is very unlikely. 

Their recent history shows players such as Achraf Hakimi and Ian Maatsen donning the black and yellow shirt who would of sorted the full-back areas for several seasons but the club opted against signing them, deeming it too expensive. At the same time, Dortmund would spend €30m on the likes of Felix Nmecha and Malen, players who have not improved Dortmund at all. This has resulted in them being borderline mediocre for several seasons now, barring their title challenge in 2022/23.

GGFN | Jack Meenan