Dortmund's Talent Factory: The Shirts Before the Transfer
The Borussia Dortmund football shirts of Erling Haaland, Jude Bellingham, Ousmane Dembélé, Robert Lewandowski and Achraf Hakimi, worn before the big moves that followed.
No club has turned young talent into transfer fees quite like Borussia Dortmund. Ousmane Dembélé, Robert Lewandowski, Jude Bellingham, Erling Haaland, Achraf Hakimi: five players who all passed through Dortmund before becoming some of the biggest names in the game. These are the classic football shirts they wore before the big transfer, back when it all started.
Ousmane Dembélé: #7 (2016 to 2017)
Dembélé arrived in the summer of 2016 from Stade Rennais, where he'd worn number 23. At Dortmund he switched to number 7 and wore it for just one season at the top level. One season was enough to win Bundesliga Rookie of the Year and a spot in the Team of the Season. He signed off with a trophy too: in the 2017 DFB-Pokal final against Eintracht Frankfurt in Berlin, he scored the opener in a 2-1 win.
It was also enough to convince Barcelona. In the summer of 2017 he left for an initial €105 million, rising to €148 million with bonuses, one of the most expensive transfers ever at the time. The move wasn't smooth: Dembélé stopped training for a while to force it through. It worked. His time in the Dortmund shirt was short, but it's the shirt where it all started.
Robert Lewandowski: #9 (2010 to 2014)
Lewandowski joined from Lech Poznań in the summer of 2010 for around €4.75 million, taking the number 9 at Dortmund. He stayed four years and grew into one of the best strikers in Europe: 74 goals in 131 Bundesliga games, back to back Bundesliga titles (2011 and 2012), and a top scorer award. The second title came as part of a double: in the 2012 DFB-Pokal final he scored a hat trick in a 5-2 win over Bayern.
His standout moment came in 2013, with four goals in the Champions League semi final against Real Madrid. The first leg finished 4-1, and he went on to play in that year's final too. A year later, in the summer of 2014, his contract ran out and he left for free, moving to fierce rival Bayern Munich. That move upset a lot of Dortmund fans at the time.
Jude Bellingham: #22 (2020 to 2023)
Bellingham joined in the summer of 2020 from Birmingham City for £25 million, the most expensive 17 year old ever at the time. He wore the number 22 for his whole spell at Dortmund.
What followed was a fast rise: the teenager who still had to adjust to the level grew, within a couple of seasons, into one of the Bundesliga's standout players. 132 games, 24 goals, and a DFB-Pokal win in 2021. His last season was his best: he was named Bundesliga Player of the Season for 2022/23, a season Dortmund lost the title on the final day on goal difference, with Bellingham out injured. In the summer of 2023 he left for Real Madrid for €103 million, where his rise carried straight on.
Erling Haaland: #9 (2020 to 2022)
Haaland arrived in January 2020 from RB Salzburg. His Bundesliga debut set the tone: he came off the bench away at Augsburg and scored a hat trick in just over 20 minutes. He started out wearing number 17, but soon switched to number 9, the number that made his name. In two and a half seasons at Dortmund he scored 86 goals in 89 games, roughly a goal a game.
In the summer of 2022 he moved to Manchester City for his release clause of £51 million. That was a surprisingly low fee for a player of his level, but it was simply the fixed amount written into his contract.
Achraf Hakimi: #5 (2018 to 2020)
Hakimi is the odd one out on this list: the only player who was never actually signed by Dortmund. He arrived on loan from Real Madrid in July 2018, for two seasons, wearing number 5 in both. He scored on his Bundesliga debut, in a 7-0 win over Nürnberg.
In his second loan season (2019/20) he showed what he was worth: 9 goals and 10 assists in 44 games, plus a DFL-Supercup win in 2019. In the summer of 2020 he went back to Real Madrid, only to be sold straight on to Inter Milan. Two years at Dortmund, never owned by the club a single day.
The Dortmund pipeline
No club in Europe turns young talent into world stars like Borussia Dortmund. A young player arrives with promise, spends a season or two proving it, and leaves for one of the biggest clubs in the world. Dembélé, Lewandowski, Bellingham, Haaland, Hakimi: different players, same pattern. Dortmund finds them first.
Common Questions
Why did all these players leave Borussia Dortmund?
Because Dortmund's model is built around giving young talent a real first team role early and letting them develop into stars. That doesn't always mean a big payday, though: Dembélé and Bellingham left for huge fees, but Lewandowski walked away on a free transfer, Haaland went for a release clause well below his market value, and Hakimi was never even Dortmund's to sell, he was on loan from Real Madrid the whole time.
Which Dortmund player had the shortest spell before his big transfer?
Dembélé, by far. He arrived in 2016, wore the number 7 for a single season, and was wearing the Barcelona shirt by the summer of 2017.
Who scored the most goals at Dortmund before leaving?
Haaland, with 86 goals in 89 games across two and a half seasons, the best scoring rate of anyone on this list.
Was Hakimi actually a Dortmund player?
Not permanently. He came on loan from Real Madrid for two seasons, then went straight back to Madrid before being sold on to Inter Milan. He's the only one here who was never signed by Dortmund at all.
Which of these transfers was the most expensive?
Dembélé's move to Barcelona, an initial €105 million rising to €148 million with bonuses, still one of the most expensive transfers in football history.
Did any of these players leave Dortmund for free?
Yes, Robert Lewandowski. His contract ran out in the summer of 2014 and he moved to Bayern Munich, Dortmund's biggest rival, on a free transfer.
What number did Erling Haaland wear at Dortmund?
He started out with number 17, then switched to number 9, the number he's worn ever since.
Did any of these players win a trophy at Dortmund?
Yes, all five of them. Dembélé won the DFB-Pokal in 2017 and scored in the final. Lewandowski won back to back Bundesliga titles in 2011 and 2012, plus the DFB-Pokal in 2012. Bellingham and Haaland won the DFB-Pokal together in 2021, with Haaland scoring twice in the final. Hakimi won the DFL-Supercup in 2019.
Find your Dortmund shirt
Five players, five shirts, one pattern. Each of these retro football shirts was worn before the fee, the headlines and the move to a bigger stage, and that is exactly what makes them worth owning now. A Haaland number 9 or a Bellingham number 22 from those Dortmund seasons shows a player on the way up, not one who had already arrived.
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