BVB announce decision: this man takes over from Lars Ricken | OneFootball

After a long vacancy, Borussia Dortmund has found a new director for its youth academy. To do so, BVB is promoting a man from within its own ranks, who will succeed Lars Ricken.

Borussia Dortmund is restructuring its youth setup and has promoted Paul Schaffran to director of the youth academy. The 39-year-old, who had previously served as head of the academy, will take up his new role on September 1. In doing so, BVB is filling a position previously held by Lars Ricken.

Ricken served as academy director until his promotion to managing director for sport in May 2024. Now the Bundesliga club is opting for an internal solution. Schaffran has been working for Dortmund since 2021 and has held various positions during that time. He initially oversaw the sports science department, later strategy and development. Since mid-2025, he had been in charge of the youth academy.

“Paul Schaffran has established himself as an important leader in our academy and in recent months has played a leading role in setting the course for a successful future for our academy,” Ricken said about the promotion. With Schaffran as director, the club believes its youth department is “in the best possible position” for the tasks ahead.

Confirmed: Paul Schaffran succeeds Lars Ricken at BVB

In recent years, Schaffran has played a key role in the realignment of Dortmund’s youth development work. Together with sporting director Thomas Broich, he placed a stronger focus on the individual development of talents. This includes changed team structures and a unified playing philosophy. In addition, BVB introduced so-called bio-banding, in which players’ physical development is also taken into account when putting together training groups.

Photo: IMAGO

The first signs of success from the new approach are already visible. In addition to winning the Premier League International Cup, several youth players made the step up to the senior team in the 2025/26 season. Samuele Inacio, Luca Reggiani, Filippo Mane and Mathis Albert made their debuts under coach Niko Kovac. Other talents such as Enzo dos Santos and Mussa Kaba have also already trained regularly with the first team.

Schaffran himself sees his promotion as a mandate to continue the development: “At the same time, it motivates me to continue down this path consistently together with my team and to keep driving youth development at Borussia Dortmund forward.”

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.