Double coup signals Borussia Dortmund intent

Undoubtedly it has been a good week for Borussia Dortmund – with Patrick Aubameyang signing for the club and now Henrikh Mkhitaryan completing his move.

All the talk prior to the window revolved around the reported inevitable breakup of the current highly successful Dortmund squad – yet these moves highlight the club has no plans to go away quietly. Both players were believed to be strongly courted throughout Europe’s elite so their signings should be considered significant coups for the 2012 Bundesliga Champions and evidence that they intend to be competing in the later stages of the Champions League once again.

Aubameyang was the highest scorer in Ligue 1 last season contributing 19 goals – which should be considered no mean feat considering the talents that champions PSG had to call on. What is further impressive is that these goals came playing for fifth placed St Etienne, rather than one of the big boys. It is also worth noting that the Gabon international offers more than just goals, for he is also provided his club with 14 assists – showing he is a creator as well as a finisher. Many will view this move as a replacement for the prolific Robert Lewandowski (who it’s worth noting still remains at the club) and whilst stepping into the Poles shadow will be a huge challenge, Aubameyang despite being a slightly different type of player has the potential to have a similar level of success.

If Aubameyang was a coup then Mkhitaryan is a sensational signing, for the Armenian was one of the hottest properties in this window. The midfielder has drawn vast plaudits with his current club Shakhtar Donetsk – particularly last season where he provided 25 goals in 28 games from midfield. It is not just goals though that have seen him become a target throughout Europe for Mkhitaryan possesses both pace, intelligence and skill in abundance whilst his ability to pick up languages with alarming ease will help him to adapt to a new setting. Having sold Mario Goetze to rivals Bayern at the end of last season this signing is almost the perfect tonic to replace him.

It is also worth noting that for all the predicted mass exodus at the club there has actually been next to no activity in regards to key players leaving. The Lewandowski rumours continue to roll on and it would be a real shock to see him be at the club come the end of the window, however talk of the likes of Marco Rues, Mats Hummels and Icky Gundagon have not been as prominent as many might have expected. There is of course plenty of time to go and you would not bet against one or two of Borussia’s big players moving on but for now it is so far so good. Another significant positive is that influential coach Jurgen Klopp has seemingly survived the summer manager go round and should therefore be at the club next season – with the hope being that he can convince several of his key players to hang around.

 Whatever happens in regards to players leaving it seems that Dortmund are determined to maintain their current placing amongst Europe’s elite – with these signing’s unquestionable evidence of that. For the neutrals when it comes to European football, that can only be a good thing.