By Oliver Trust
BERLIN, May 13 (Xinhua) -- It is an open secret that Lucien Favre will take over at Borussia Dortmund as the successor of Austrian Peter Stoeger. The club is expected to announce the appointment of the 60-year-old Swiss from OGC Nice as early as next week.
It is said Dortmund is set to pay three million euro for Favre. The investment is vital as the club is facing the biggest turbulence for years, so much so that the club's future is in jeopardy.
Though the Blacks and Yellows have qualified for next season's Champions League, Favre's job couldn't be more challenging. To reanimate the self-declared number two in German football is said to be a Herculean task and Favre's toughest assignment so far in his career.
Dortmund's CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke admitted the club needs a major turnaround to find its way back to success. "We have enough problems to fill three years let alone one," Borussia's sporting director Michael Zorc commented after the side nearly missed out on reaching Europe's premier club competition after losing the last two games of the season.
Nuri Sahin admitted he has never felt such great unrest in the club before. The midfielder said not even the crisis of 2005 when the club was shaken by financial strife comes near what the 2012 German Champion went through this season. "We had so many internal problems in the locker room, a great deal of our energy was wasted because of that," Sahin stressed.
It is evident that neither former coach, Dutchman Peter Bosz nor Stoeger could solve the team's problems. To avoid similar turbulences Dortmund announced that their former coach Matthias Sammer would assist Favre as an external advisor.
The club is said to entirely rely on Favre's ability to instill determination and discipline with his teams.
Former midfielder Sebastian Kehl has also been installed as the side's sporting director. He will report to Zorc and his remit is to keep an eye on what is happening within the team.
Troubles like the ones caused by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang should not harm the team's progress in the future. The Gabon striker lacked discipline and is said to have blackmailed Borussia to allow him to leave for the Premier League club Arsenal.
Zorc announced Favre's main task would be to instill discipline back into the team. Sahin said the team's biggest challenge next season will be to "get together again." For now, Sahin underlined, "it's better we don't see each other for some weeks."
Several performers are expected to leave while the club announced to have signed Juventus Turin's right back, 34-year-old Stephan Lichtensteiner. Dortmund is said to be interested in signing Werder Bremen's Thomas Delaney. Rumors spoke about a possible interest in Manchester United striker Anthony Martial.
Watzke said the club would need its entire energy to secure a future at the top of the game and regain an international reputation. Watzke spoke of great relief to have narrowly achieved the Champions League qualification.
Clubs like Bayern Munich are currently out of Dortmund's reach. He said Dortmund would remain a formidable club but will not be able to rival Bayern in the near future. Watzke said the main reason is the exorbitant sums shelled out on transfers. "They have exploded," he said.
Watzke admitted Dortmund has lost contact to Bayern. "In 2011 and 2012 we were near them, but now they are out of sight."
Watzke said Bayern used the strategy to buy Dortmund's best players over the last year's to widen the gap between both clubs. "Losing players like Robert Lewandowski, Mats Hummels and Mario Gotze, we lost quality we couldn't compensate for."
Watzke said Juventus Turin in Italy and Paris St Germain in France are using similar strategies to weaken their national rivals.
