Dortmund this season will hope they can be in the hunt for the Bundesliga title. The 2011 and 2012 Bundesliga champions have fell quite a way behind big spending Bayern Munich over the past few years; in 2013 they finished in second place 25 points behind their Bavarian rivals. In 2014 they did close the gap a little bit but still finished 19 points behind Bayern. So this season, after some solid acquisitions. Dortmund will hoping they will be in the run in for the coveted Bundesliga crown as well as the DFB-Pokal, DFL-Supercup and the Champions League even after Robert Lewandowski's controversial transfer to Bayern Munich.
Summer Signings
In:
-Ji Dong-won (FC Augsburg) - Costless
-Adrián Ramos (Hertha BSC) - Undisclosed
-Nuri Şahin (Real Madrid) - Undisclosed
-Ciro Immobile (Torino) - Undisclosed
- Matthias Ginter (SC Freiburg) - Undisclosed
Out:
- Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich) - Costless
- Manuel Friedrich (Released) - Costless
- Julian Schieber (Hertha BSC) - Undisclosed
Goalkeepers
Last season's number one, Roman Weidenfeller was superb when called up on last season. After a string of standout performances was called up for the national team for the first time for games against Italy and England. He made his debut against the old foe, England, at Wembley. He will be hoping he can stay as the number one choice keeper but Mitchell Langerak will definitely he hot on the heels of the veteran. This may be one of the biggest seasons of his career as he is still only 25 and Weidenfeller is ageing.
Defenders
Borussia Dortmund will have one of the strongest defences, especially after signing Matthias Ginter from SC Freiburg on a five-year deal. The Germany international broke into the Freiburg team in 2012 and went onto make 70 appearances and scored two goals in the process. Like Langerak, this could be a very big season for him as he will look to shine and stake a claim in the first team on a regular basis with Dortmund and the national team. He still has a lot of potential and a bright future ahead of him. He may though find it hard to break into the first team as seasoned veterans of the Bundesliga and stalwarts Neven Subotić and Mats Hummels will look to form a formidable centre of defence just like they did in seasons gone. Sokratis Papastathopoulos will also be hoping to cement a regular position in the centre of defence also after making 28 appearances last season after his move from Werder Bremen.
In the full back positions, Dortmund have Łukasz Piszczek and Marcel Schmelzer, both very consistent defenders with an eye for getting forward. Another youngster that looks impressive is left-back, Eric Durm. He will hope to put a lot of pressure on Schemlzer after making 19 appearances in his absence. Due to his impressive performances he was called up to the Germany squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
Midfielders
Dortmund have many options in this position and they have added to the depth of the midfield after signing Nuri Sahin from Real Madrid. They have seasoned veteran Sebastian Kehl who can put his experience to good use. They also have Lars Bender who can offer defensive cover for the defence.
In the attacking side of the midfield they have play-making, İlkay Gündoğan who can offer a wide range of traits, from passing to the technical side of the beautiful game. In the wide positions they have Polish international, Jakub Błaszczykowski who can offer pace and a deadly cross. They also have Armenian, Henrikh Mkhitaryan who is more than capable on both wings, as and also as an attacking threat. He offers pace and skill and will be a very tricky customer for any opposition.
Forwards
After the departure of Robert Lewandowski to rivals, Bayern Munich, many of the Dortmund faithful would have been sceptical about who could fill the void he left. Klopp though has been very shrews in the transfer market as he has made signings early. Three strikers were brought in: Ji Dong-won from FC Augsburg, Adrian Ramos from Hertha BSC and Ciro Immobile from Torino. They all offer something different up top but they are all capable of scoring a few.
Dortmund fans do not need to worry as much though as they will have the returning Marco Reus who offers, versatility, attacking intent and also score a few. Last season he scored an impressive 23 goals in 43 games. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is another striker that can offer a different dimension to the attack, his pace is frightening at times and in his first season at Dortmund he scored 16 goals in 37 appearances in all competitions.
Prediction
Dortmund will hoping to try and challenge for the title this season, especially after making some very good signings and adding depth to their ranks I the title race will be very close in comparison to the last two seasons but I still think they will finish second as Munich have too much class. They will definitely be challenging on all fronts and will hope to add a trophy to their cabinet.
