BERLIN, July 31 (Xinhua) -- Borussia Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke announced that the black and yellows intend increasing their efforts within the Chinese and Asian markets over the next years.
In a recent Xinhua interview, the former amateur footballer outlined the club's strategy to expand its performance on social media channels. "We are determined to concentrate even more on the Asian markets than we did the past," stressed the 60-year-old.
The new squad containing several fresh faces and the club's long history are said to be the campaign's key focus.
The club boss mentioned the popularity of several BVB performers such as Marco Reus, Mats Hummels, and Julian Brandt. According to a survey, new signing and former Leverkusen attacker, Brandt, is the fourth most popular Bundesliga player in China.
Watzke talked about plans to visit China with the first team soon. "We still remember our last trip and the enthusiasm sparked by our legends team last year," Watzke said. He said the club's latest transfers pay tribute to the rapid developments in modern football as "you can't get anywhere without speed in your game".
The club leader emphasized the importance of the return of former German international Mats Hummels for Borussia's team in terms of mentality and experience. "Mats can count on a wealth of experience and is an excellent header of the ball both defensively and upfront, but is also one of the rare players able to hit deadly passes upfield from the back," Watzke said.
Another important reason for his return is Hummel's indomitable determination to win games and titles. "We somehow had the impression that many of our players are rather introverted. Mats is pretty much the opposite and speaks positively about the team's qualities," Watzke underlined adding that Hummel's openness can be a vital factor.
Watzke spoke about his happiness about the fans' renewed enthusiasm for the upcoming Bundesliga which promises greater competitiveness than last season when champions Bayern finished two-points above Dortmund. "People seem exhilarated by the thought of a tight title race. They have been waiting for it for a long time," Watzke commented.
On the subject of international success, Watzke does not expect English football to dominate the coming years in the way it did in the 2018/19 season. Watzke stated that he hoped that German football would return to competitiveness, "as Bayern and Dortmund always can reach a Champions League semi-final" and challenge the likes of last season's winners Liverpool, as well as Chelsea who lifted the Europa League trophy.
Financial fair-play rules implemented and supervised by UEFA have an increasing effect on many club's actions in his view. "We strongly support the strategy of UEFA's president Aleksander Ceferin," Watzke said.
Markets are changing even though the recently growing transfer sums he is predicting. Watzke is expecting a decrease in the sums paid for players in the transfer market in the future.
