Borussia Dortmund have been handed a warning by pundit Jan Aage Fjortoft.
With Manchester United still likely to be interested in taking Jadon Sancho to Old Trafford and perhaps getting Erling Haaland into the bargain, the German outfit need to start winning trophies.
For all of their good football, and they’re revered throughout Europe for the way in which they play the game, the lack of trophies has to be a concern. Particularly where the likes of Sancho and Halland are concerned.
As their international colleagues hoover up silverware left, right and centre, they will know that in a career at the top which doesnt last for long, they need to be at the front of the queue when the trophies are being handed out.
“Viv Anderson said to me, ‘but Jan, it’s quite easy, young kids want to win trophies – that’s why they’re in the game,'” Fjortoft said to ESPN, cited by the Daily Star.
“One day they will go away, meet each other now at international break and they will say ‘you’re a good team, you have good talent, how many trophies have you got?’
“I think that is the danger with Dortmund, now having the best Norwegian, the best American, the two best English, although Sancho is not at the moment unfortunately.
“That is the main challenge for Dortmund, how long can they keep these young kids without winning trophies and the culture needs to be built up.
“It’s also typical that Bayern [have] got that culture at the moment because they have that winning mentality in there.”
Whilst Dortmund can’t guarantee trophies of course, nor can any club, and the Bundesliga outfit still have the upper hand in any potential negotiations as they showed just last summer.