Watzke’s secret mission: How BVB beat Frankfurt to sign Bellingham | OneFootball

Jobe Bellingham was on the verge of a transfer to Eintracht Frankfurt. But thanks to Hans-Joachim Watzke’s intervention, the youngster ultimately chose BVB.

Last summer, Borussia Dortmund prevailed in the battle for Jobe Bellingham against Eintracht Frankfurt—thanks in part to the personal involvement of Hans-Joachim Watzke. In an interview with schwatzgelb.de, the outgoing BVB CEO now detailed just how decisive his intervention was.

Sporting director Lars Ricken and sporting manager Sebastian Kehl had asked him for support in their efforts to sign the 20-year-old. Watzke explained: “If they ever ask for help—which, of course, I still have a large network—then I’ll fly out to the Bellinghams, because they had the impression that this could make the final two percent of difference.”

In fact, the midfielder seemed to have almost joined the competition already. “The boy was mentally almost in Frankfurt, but because we kept in constant contact with the family, I made an exception this time,” Watzke continued. The visit paid off: Bellingham chose BVB over Eintracht. Dortmund transferred more than 30 million euros to AFC Sunderland, with possible bonus payments that could increase the sum further.

Bellingham’s Difficult Start at BVB

Sportingly, things have been mixed so far for the young Englishman in Dortmund. Under coach Niko Kovac, he is not yet a regular starter, but has recently shown positive development. At the same time, Watzke emphasized that in the future, he only wants to get involved if the sporting management explicitly asks him to. “But I would never have done it if Lars and Sebastian hadn’t asked me to.”

Regarding his new role at the club, he also explained that he doesn’t want to interfere unasked: “But my father always told me: Even advice is a blow. So, the two of them won’t get any unsolicited advice from me.”

The BVB boss had already played a key role in the transfer of Jobe Bellingham’s brother Jude five years ago. Now, once again, Watzke’s network was needed—and proved decisive in ensuring that it was Dortmund, not Frankfurt, who secured the signing.

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