Marco Reus, Hans-Joachim Watzke and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang all spoke to German football magazine 'Kicker' in last few days, the trio were extremely upbeat about various issues surrounding the club; the main topic of conversation was Reus himself and whether his future plans depend on Dortmund winning a title soon: "No, not at all." said the BVB attacker, "I can only repeat what I have already said many times before: I am really happy to be playing for Dortmund."

This was a statement echoed by Borussia Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke, "In the summer nothing was going to happen anyway. We have said this a thousand times. Marco will play for Borussia Dortmund next season and no-one else in the world. We want to work with Marco in the long-term," said Watzke, who thinks Reus could become a club icon: "He has, with us, a unique opportunity to acquire a status of Uwe Seeler at Hamburg or Franz Beckenbauer at Bayern Munich." Watzke about his ideas with Reus. "He can be a legend and can have an era characterised by his name."

"We believe that we can provide him with a good overall package. We are trying to tie him to BVB in the long-term. Whether the negotiations succeed, only time will tell." Watzke was extremely up-beat about keeping Reus, who has a €35million buy-out clause able to be activated from the end of Dortmund's 2014-15 season. However, the winger is facing a battle to be fit for the beginning of the campaign. Reus remains positive about his chances of making the first game and thanked Watzke for the comparisons, but was quick to note his World Cup woes, "Everything is going to plan with my rehabilitation so far, I am even a little bit ahead of schedule. It made me very happy. Uwe Seeler is not just anybody, he is a legend. Such a disappointment [his injury] is hard to take. When you see how the World Cup ended it hurts twice as much."

Reus was understandably annoyed about missing the greatest show on earth, he didn't even realise that best-friend Mario Götze had held his shirt up during the celebrations: "I had already switched my TV off and only saw it all the next morning". The highly coveted BVB man was keen to turn his attentions to the new season and two of last season's signings, "We have to gain the points we didn't get in the middle of the season. We always started and finished well. In the Cup it has to be our goal to get to Berlin again. It was amazing to see so many Dortmund fans in the capital."

Henrikh Mkhitaryan had an up-and-down start to his time at the Westfalenstadion; the Armenian play-maker failed to finish off some simple chances during the season; but made up for multiple assists, opening the scoring against Bayern Munich and his fantastic, unrelenting work-rate: "I already thought his first season with us was good. I think we could see him explode this season." said Marco Reus, who thought Aubameyang would have a similar season: "I also think Pierre go on a run of form this season. Both [Aubameyang and Mkhitaryan] had to get used to our coach first.

Aubameyang himself had also spoken to kicker, with the Gabon international keen to improve on his first season, "I hope that the second year will go a little better for me even though the first one was not bad. I hope to score 20 goals, I managed to do that at St. Etienne, maybe this season it will be even more." Coach Jürgen Klopp has recently spoke of his side's improved versatility; with 4-4-2, among other formations, being deployed. "4-4-2 is an advantage for me because I grew up playing it. But I am, of course, ready for any system we play." said Aubameyang, who was well into double figures for goals last year, "I have now got used to the level in the Bundesliga, have a contract until 2018 and wants to show my qualities even more. We have lost a great player, but Ciro Immobile get with Adrian Ramos and two very good people to do so. I believe that we have become more flexible and unpredictable."

Finally, he spoke about his new attacking partner, Ciro Immobile; the former Torino striker was the top goal-scorer in Serie A last term and will be hoping to replicate that this season, "He is a nice guy, a good guy. I will try to support him from the start. I am happy to help Ciro. He is new. When speaking a common language, you may just help them a bit better." Aubameyang is fluent in Italian, so Immobile's integration into the side will be aided greatly by his team-mate.

It'll definitely be interesting to see how Borussia Dortmund fare this season, especially with all the talk in pre-season; but, after recent seasons where they've been off the pace, they'll be desperate to get one back at rivals Bayern Munich. It remains to be seen if they can; one thing is for sure, they'll be push them all the way.

Thanks to @BundesligaSpot and @SanBorussia for translating most of the Kicker interviews.