Borussia Dortmund chief hits out at Mane signing critics: “There will always be idiots”

Borussia Dortmund chief hits out at Mane signing critics: “There will always be idiots”

Borussia Dortmund chief hits out at Mane signing critics: “There will always be idiots”

Borussia Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke has hit out at those who criticised Sadio Mane’s decision to move to the German Bundesliga to continue his career.

The Senegal international returned to Germany after eight years in the Premier League, two of which were spent at St Mary’s stadium with Southampton and six of which were spent at Anfield with Liverpool.

The 2021 African Cup of Nations winner became one of the best players in the world at Liverpool under former Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp. He left the Reds with a Premier League golden boot and six trophies to his name. He will now turn up for German giants Bayern Munich starting in the 2022/23 season for the next three years.

Former Liverpool striker Dean Saunders criticised the move, saying, “Nothing against the club, it’s a great club, but the league is nowhere near a challenge for Mane. He’ll get goals. They win 5-0 every week, only one team can win the league.

"It’s not a challenge. He will get in his armchair, light a cigar up, he’ll play for Bayern in third gear and he’ll coast for two years and ruin the best two years of his life as a footballer. At the end of his career, if he said to you 'come and look at my trophy cabinet', the German league winners medal will be right at the back.”

German football has a good reputation, Watzke says

The Dortmund CEO, who is preparing to face off against Bayern next season in what could be a losing battle for the German Bundesliga title, fiercely came to the defence of his league after Saunders’ comments.

He chose to address every single one of German football’s critics but made special reference to the comments from the ex-Liverpool striker. Speaking to German publication BILD, Watzke said: "There are always some arrogant idiots like this one, As a member of the board of Europe's club association ECA, I know that German football still has a good reputation.

"The English didn't win any of the three European Cup titles in the past season!"

Bayern strolled to their tenth consecutive German Bundesliga title in the 2021/22 season and are currently shaping up to make it 11 in a row. Alongside Mane, they have signed Ryan Gravenberch and Noussair Mazraoui from Ajax Amsterdam.

Watzke has pulled off some superb deals of his own, bringing in Karim Adeyemi, Nico Schlotterbeck and Niklas Sule, with reports stating that he is almost close to completing a deal for Sebastian Haller. The Dortmund CEO, however, has admitted in the past that Bayern’s dominance of the league does not look good and is currently in discussions with other German Bundesliga club leaders over a proposed format change which could help the league become more competitive.

What is the proposed format change?

Bundesliga president Wolfgang Holzhauser suggested a playoff format which would see the top four teams after the regular season of the league is done participate in a playoff to determine the champions of each season.

"The top four teams would play a semi-final against each other after the Bundesliga regular season [ends]," Holzhauser said in 2021. "The leaders [will play] against the fourth-placed [team] and the second-placed against the third-placed. The winners will play a final and those who lose [will play] a match for the third and fourth spots.

He also claimed that the format could help redistribute wealth among the Bundesliga teams so they can become more financially stable. The other teams, including Wtzke-led Dortmund, are considering it but Bayern have opposed the idea, as expected.

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