Borussia Dortmund: What 3 ways does Mats Hummels help?

Here’s how Mats Hummels helps Borussia Dortmund

BERLIN, GERMANY - MAY 25: Kingsley Coman of Bayern Munich celebrates with teammates after scoring his team's second goal during the DFB Cup final between RB Leipzig and Bayern Muenchen at Olympiastadion on May 25, 2019 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Bongarts/Getty Images) /

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06 April 2019, Bavaria, München: Soccer: Bundesliga, 28th matchday, Bayern Munich – Borussia Dortmund in the Allianz Arena. Munich’s Mats Hummels (r) and Jacob Bruun Larsen from Dortmund fight for the ball. IMPORTANT NOTE: In accordance with the requirements of the DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga or the DFB Deutscher Fußball-Bund, it is prohibited to use or have used photographs taken in the stadium and/or the match in the form of sequence images and/or video-like photo sequences. Photo: Sven Hoppe/dpa (Photo by Sven Hoppe/picture alliance via Getty Images) /

3. It never hurts getting a star from Bayern

While Bayern Munich can easily use the 38 million euros from the Mats Hummels transfer to buy another starting-quality center back or a rising star at the position like VFB Stuttgart’s affordable – and popular – Ozan Kabak, it’s still beneficial for Borussia Dortmund to pry a quality player away from their rival’s hands.

Hummels and Niklas Sule formed one of the world’s best center back partnerships last season for Bayern, and Hummels’s quality play helped offset the tough time Jerome Boateng was going through with injuries. While Hummels isn’t a part of Germany’s or Bayern’s youth movement, Bayern’s loss should very much be Dortmund’s gain.

Dortmund have so many young players across their formation that they can afford to sprinkle in a few veteran players. While they had Axel Witsel, Thomas Delaney, Marco Reus, Mario Gotze, and Paco Alcacer as key veterans in the midfield and in the attack, only Lukasz Piszczek brought experience to Dortmund’s back four. In that sense, Dortmund are in an opposite situation as Bayern; instead of offloading veteran players, they have interest in adding 30-year-old defenders who can still play at a high level.

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Bayern have signed Hernandez and Pavard, and both players should be immense for the reigning Bundesliga champions. However, Hummels was a regular starter – and a strong starter at that. Die Roten must go out of their way to replace him in the lineup, or risk not having enough depth defensively. Since they also have to fill needs in the midfield and in the attack to become more competitive in the Champions League after last year’s awful performance against champions Liverpool, replacing Hummels is yet another task on their to-do list.

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