Calling back your ex, is it a good idea? If this question is the daily bread of many psychologists around the world, Borussia Dortmund has, for its part, decided on the question. Nostalgic about its prodigal sons, the German club, currently fifth in the Bundesliga, has often chosen to recall former well-known faces from Signal Iduna Park. Latest? Jadon Sancho (23 years old). In an impasse on the Manchester United side, the English left winger (23 caps, 3 goals) has decided to return to his homeland. “Borussia Dortmund has loaned offensive player Jadon Sancho until the end of the season. The Englishman, currently at Manchester United, signed a loan contract on Thursday until June 30, 2024., announced the BvB with this in mind, this Thursday, to make the news official. The opportunity to take stock of its different players who have had at least two distinct stints with the Marsupials.
Mats Hummels, a criticized but winning choice!
Having left Borussia Dortmund on July 23, 2021, Jadon Sancho – who had revealed himself in the Bundesliga during his four years spent across the Rhine – will therefore try to revive after having scored 38 goals and delivered 51 assists in 104 matches during his first adventure. A risky but legitimate bet given his more than chaotic situation with the Red Devils. Like the striker trained at Manchester City, others had also decided, before him, to return home. This is particularly the case of Mats Hummels (35 years old). Loaned by Bayern Munich in January 2008 before being permanently transferred in July 2009, the German central defender quickly established himself as a reference in his position. Pillar of the Marsupials rearguard, the 1m91 right-hander, native of Bergisch Gladbach, finally made his return to Bavaria in the summer of 2016, all for a check for 35 million euros. A departure which did not fail to provoke certain indignation among BvB supporters.
Now back in Dortmund after a successful stint with rival Munich for three seasons, the solid German defender (78 caps, 5 goals) confirms all his skills. Bought for just over 30 million euros in July 2019, the man whose contract runs until June 2024 continues to defy constant suggestions from local media that he is on the decline. Despite his 35 springs, his positioning, his timing and his composure remain a real added value for the team coached by Edin Terzic, qualified for the round of 16 of the Champions League, although seconded in the championship (15 points behind Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen). One thing is certain, if the return of Mats Hummels proved to be a success, destiny has, however, been much less kind to other former BvB names. With this in mind, how can we not mention the trajectories of Nuri Sahin or Shinji Kagawa. For the first mentioned, who has since become an assistant coach at BvB after a last experience in Turkey with Antalyaspor, the story was, in fact, much more painful.
Nuri Şahin and Shinji Kagawa, disappointing returns…
Central piece of the collective led by Jürgen Klopp during the 2009/2010 then 2010/2011 seasons, the Turkish international (52 caps, 2 goals) even took his team to the Bundesliga title, scoring 8 goals that year and delivering 13 offerings in all competitions. Impressive in the midfield, the player trained with the Marsupiaux then joined Real Madrid for 10 million euros. After 10 small appearances with the Merengues and an unflattering loan from Liverpool, Sahin also decided to reconnect with his first love. A second, much more delicate experience where the kid from Lüdenscheid will largely lose his influence in midfield, totaling 9 goals and 13 assists in 121 appearances between the second part of the 2012/2013 season and the end of the 2017/2018 financial year. . Subsequently transferred to Werder Bremen, the 1m80 left-hander will finally finish his work in Antalya, without really making an impression. Continuing the trajectory experienced by Nuri Sahin, that of a certain Shinji Kagawa can also frighten Jadon Sancho, at a time when the latter has decided to trust his former club.
Snatched from Cerezo Osaka, the Japanese international (97 caps, 31 goals) initially made the Marsupials happy. Lively, technical and real poison for opposing defenses, the 1m75 attacking midfielder had quite simply terrorized the Bundesliga for two seasons. Great architect of the double signed by the BvB on the national scene (2010/2011 and 2011/2012), the one who scored 29 goals and delivered 16 offerings nevertheless went to Manchester United at the start of the summer 2012. If Borussia Dortmund failed a few months later in the Champions League final against the Bavarian ogre, Kagawa experienced a real ordeal with the Red Devils. Little helped by the departure of Sir Alex Fergusson, the 1m75 Japanese then underwent the appointment of David Moyes on the Mancunian bench. Much less used by the Scot’s successor, the native of Kobe caused a stir throughout Europe, even giving birth to the #FreeShinji movement. Finally returning to BvB in August 2014, Kagawa would never regain his magic. In a number 10 role, his second stint from August 2014 to January 2019 will, unfortunately, leave a bitter taste for the supporters of Signal Iduna Park.
After equally disappointing stints in Spain, Turkey, Greece and Belgium, the person finally decided to return to his native country, where it all started with Cerezo Osaka, where he is today. now bound until January 2025. Expected in Marbella, where his new (old) team is currently in training, Jadon Sancho therefore has numerous examples of players having made the same choice as him. Note, with this in mind, that the English winger became, this Thursday, the seventeenth player in BvB history to have had two or more distinct stints within the German team. Thus, we could also have cited, to a lesser extent, the cases of Marius Wolf (28 years old), loaned by the Marsupials to Hertha Berlin then to Cologne, or even Marco Reus. After starting out with Dortmund’s youth teams, the German international (48 caps, 15 goals) left the Ruhr club to join another with Rot-Weiß Essen and, later, Borussia Mönchengladbach. Back at BvB since the summer of 2012, Marco Reus ultimately never dared to make a new start and will therefore be able to welcome a former teammate in the person of Jadon Sancho…
