The Bundesliga is widely considered the hottest bed of young footballing talent. Borussia Dortmund in particular have made it a habit of plucking young unproven talent from the wilderness and turning them into household names within the sport.
In 2005 with BVB on the verge of bankruptcy, Hans Joachim Watzke took over as CEO and adapted a youth-centric recruitment strategy.
The appointment of Jürgen Klopp prompted the club to make younger signings to fit the eccentric manager's high-octane style of play. Within 3 years of Klopp's appointment, the average age of the squad plummeted from 27 to 23- a figure which has stood since. In 2013, the world watched in awe as a squad of young undervalued players having a collective market value of just €30 million reached the UEFA Champions League final.
But how exactly do they do it? Apart from recruiting young hungry players, Dortmund also appoint managers who can build teams around youth- Klopp, Tuchel, Bosz, Stöger, Favre and Rose.
As a result, more and more youngsters now prefer the Westfalenstadion over higher wages on offer elsewhere to continue their footballing development. Recent examples of Erling Håland and Jude Bellingham rejecting Manchester United in favor of die Schwarzgelben further highlights this fact.
The club also engages in scouting young promising coaches with unique ideas. Each such youth coach is encouraged to implement their own style. Players therefore have to keep adapting to different systems as they progress, producing physically and technically competent professionals who debut for the senior team.
To ensure a growing yearly revenue, BVB have been extremely smart while selling academy players. The club also engages in replacing the departed player with another rising academy star rather than spend money in the market.
BVB's widespread scouting network for players and coaches has largely benefitted European football as a whole. Out of the 15 other teams to proceed to the 2019-20 UCL knockouts, 7 teams had either an ex-BVB player on the pitch of an ex-BVB coach on the touchline. The conclusion therefore is very simple- a clear route to the top is through Dortmund.